A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 



A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

In '6 1 AND Afterward 

REMINISCENCES 

BY 

DAVID B. PARKER 

Second Lieutenant, Seventy-second New York, Detailed 

Superintendent of the Mails of the Army of the Potomac, 

United States Marshal, District of Virginia 

Chief Post Office Inspector 

EDITED BY TORRANCE PARKER 
INTRODUCTION BY 

ALBERT BUSHNELL HART, Ph.D., LL.D., Litt.D. 

Eaton Professor of the Science of Government, 
Harvard University 




BOSTON 
SMALL, MAYNARD AND COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 



Copyright, 191 2 

By Small, Maynard and Company 

(incorporated) 



Entered at Stationers" Hall 



THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U. S. A. 



£,CI.A3;)1US20 



To my son Torrance : 

I have complied with your request to have written 
out some incidents, happenings and reminiscences which 
my memory has retained from my army and official life. 

It has given me pleasure to do this because you have 
always, boy and man, been a good son and comrade. 

David B. Parker 



INTRODUCTION 

BY ALBERT BUSHNELL HART, PH.D., LL.D., LITT.D. 
Ealon Professor of the Science of Governrrient, Harvard University 

THE tendency of military history and memoirs is to 
emphasize operations on a great scale : plans for a 
campaign, concentration of armies, selection of fight- 
ing ground, approach of the enemy, preliminary skir- 
mishes and small fights ; above all, great pitched battles 
with troops shifting from point to point, occupation 
of vantage points, and subsequent movements of victor 
and of vanquished — these are the staple of the mili- 
tary historian. 

In the long run such accounts of military operations 
are not history; they are simply technical descriptions 
of the working of a highly specialized human force. 
Single battles seldom decide campaigns; single cam- 
paigns rarely settle the fate of nations. A defeat may 
be a Bull Run, which nerves the beaten side to unrelent- 
ing resistance; a victory may be a Cedar Creek, re- 
versed almost before it is gained. The importance of 
war from the point of view of history is that it fur- 
nishes new combinations for statesmen, that it makes 
possible a national development which up to that time 
has been blocked. Napoleon smashed the map of Europe 
and reassembled the fragments much according to his 
will ; but that greatest of modern soldiers could not build 
up an empire that would live as long as he did himself. 
Other people profited by the new state of things brought 
about by his wars, to create new political units. 



viii INTRODUCTION 

Nor are battles all or the essential part of warfare. 
A silent and uneventful blockade may be as effective in 
completing a peace as a great battle ; and preparations, 
drill, transportation, and hospital service are the means 
by which armies are commonly put into the position 
where they win or lose battles. Hence the man in the 
ranks and the observant officer may see as much that 
makes up the true history of a war as the dashing gen- 
eral who writes the reports, or the military critic who 
points out the flaws in those reports. The effect of war 
upon a country is measured quite as much by its influ- 
ence upon the individual soldiers as by its effect on 
national existence. 

From the beginning of military history the world has 
valued military memoirs, two of which — Xenophon's 
Retreat of the Ten Thousand and Caesar's Commen- 
taries — have for ages been classics, admired not for 
their account of battles but for their revelation of the 
writers. Our own Civil War has been rich in such 
writings. Three of the great Union commanders, 
Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan, and two of the Con- 
federates, Johnston and Longstreet, wrote elaborate 
accounts of their own service and relations to the 
struggle ; and there have been numerous personal nar- 
ratives based on letters and memoranda of the time or 
on memory by participants of every rank in the service. 
Those works, particularly by minor characters, have 
made possible an insight into the spirit of the two 
armies. We can march with the column, go through 
the monotony of the barracks, serve the grape-shot, and 
suffer the agonies of the surgeon's table, from a com- 
fortable seat in our own armchairs. 

People who went through the Civil War realize what 
a later generation hardly understands, that the war was 



INTRODUCTION ix 

not fought by the man at the front alone ; that at every 
post, from the picket Hne back to the recruiting stations 
in Maine or Minnesota, there were men acting a part 
essential for the spirit and the morale of the troops. 
Indeed one might go beyond the rearmost line and say 
that the war was fought also by the farmers who raised 
the food, the tailors who made the clothing, and the 
women who brought up the children and watched for 
news from the army. We need to realize that the Civil 
War was on both sides a struggle of the whole people, 
infused with a spirit of passionate self-sacrifice and 
devotion to an ideal such as the peaceful and well- 
fed generation of to-day can scarce imagine. 

Among the narratives of men who participated in the 
Civil War in active fashion, the memoirs of David B. 
Parker will henceforth have an honorable place. His 
early training and experience in warfare are nowise 
unusual : a million men had a similar life in a prosper- 
ous countryside; hundreds of thousands were in more 
battles and heard the zip of more bullets; scores of 
thousands of ex-soldiers like Parker again took their 
place in the body politic and rendered good service to 
their communities; hundreds have written memoirs 
equally long and touching similar matters. Neverthe- 
less this book has some characteristics which mark it 
as unusual of its kind. 

The first is Captain Parker's remarkable power of 
graphic and interesting writing. From the first chapter 
to the last the book holds its ease and vivacity. You 
may read it over and then turn backward and begin 
again, and it will still be fresh and interesting. With- 
out laying claim to literary skill, the book possesses the 
charm of easy narrative and a sense of the graphic. 

The larger part of these memoirs is not military: 



X INTRODUCTION 

besides the account of his service in the army Parker 
describes his later career as United States Marshal for 
Virginia, and as Inspector in the Post-Office Depart- 
ment during a period which is still hard to comprehend ; 
and he reveals some workings of a great public machin- 
ery, beyond the ken of the layman. 

The military part of the memoirs begins with the 
boy of eighteen who is bound to enlist and is in a state 
of apprehension lest the country may try to get along 
without him. Almost immediately on entrance into the 
service the young soldier is sent for the regimental 
mail, and thus eventually is detailed to a service which 
brings him into personal relations with some of the 
great figures of the period. Few books on war time 
so clearly reveal the original helplessness of the armies, 
the lack of any traditional or regular method of caring 
for the men in the field. As simple a matter as the col- 
lection and distribution of mail, where every man had 
his fixed place in the line, had to be organized as a new 
function. Young Parker did his share of fighting in 
the Peninsular Campaign of 1862, and has recorded 
some striking and entertaining things about the sol- 
diers in the trenches, as for instance the Dutchman who 
was left in the timber badly wounded but managed to 
pot four or five enemies, shamming dead between his 
shots. Parker's career was determined when he was 
put in charge of the mail of Hooker's command and 
made Second Lieutenant; and throughout the war he 
developed a talent for cutting red tape, quite foreign to 
the traditions of the regular army, as for instance when 
he went on issuing as many money orders as the sol- 
diers called for and could pay for. 

Parker was at Gettysburg, but was able to see little 
of the fight. His main service at that time was literally 



INTRODUCTION xi 

to shake up the chief commissary of the arm}^ at Balti- 
more and compel him to ship supplies to the front with- 
out regard to the usual military routine. Parker knew 
Hooker well, Meade — whom he thought cold and un- 
likable — a little, and was so fortunate as to command 
the high regard of General Grant, whose favorable im- 
pression of the young man was to have a great influ- 
ence on his later life. In one of his interviews he says 
that Grant " had not heard from Washington but did 
not seem to be disturbed about that." Dispatches from 
Grant brought him into personal relations with Mr. 
Lincoln, who " looked very haggard and careworn." 
Characteristically enough, Lincoln bestowed on the 
young man a little story of an experience of his own 
at Dunkirk. The singular unwillingness of General 
Grant to stir up General Butler comes out in the supe- 
rior officer's advice to the young man when Butler 
threatened to arrest him : " Just ignore them and don't 
go there to General Butler's army." When Parker tried 
to leave the service in 1864, Grant insisted on making 
him Special Agent and continued him in the serv'ice. 

One of the livest parts of this volume is the sketch 
of that extraordinary character, William B. Gushing, 
whose famous exploit of blowing up the Albemarle will 
be remembered while deeds of reckless bravery are told. 
That this combination of Paul Jones and Sir Lucius 
O'Trigger should have come from a place so far from 
the seacoast as Fredonia, New York, where Parker 
knew him as a boy, is one of the wonders of his career. 
His love of mischief and disregard of discipline had 
caused him to be separated from the service, and it was 
through the personal influence of Lincoln, who liked 
this spirited lad, that he got his opportunities. The 
blowing up of the Albemarle was only one of several 



xii INTRODUCTION 

impossible deeds. Parker's account of the escapades 
of his friend, and still more the narrative which Gush- 
ing gave him of his proposed dash, add much to our 
knowledge of the naval officer. 

Immediately after the war Parker was detailed to re- 
organize the mail service in Virginia. As Postal Agent 
it became his duty to travel across the mountains, and 
he has left a narrative of his experiences in the farm- 
houses, on the bad roads, and among the moonshiners, 
including a trip through the Cumberland Gap and into 
East Tennessee. Among his friends was Miss Van 
Lew, the Union woman who helped so many officers 
to escape from Libby, and who, when she was made 
postmistress of Richmond, proved to be as unwilling to 
obey Uncle Sam as Uncle Jeff; and Parker had a hard 
job to persuade her to follow necessary instructions. 
The service of special agents of the Government, both 
postal and treasury, comes little before the public no- 
tice; and not the least interesting part of this book is 
the account of the difficulties of the mail service on the 
frontier, and the startling incidents in the necessarily 
secret pursuit of criminals. 

In 1868 Parker was twenty-five years old. the time 
of life when many men have not emerged from a pro- 
fessional school, but his devotion to duty and his skill 
in organization had attracted the attention of powerful 
friends. After the election, and before the inaugura- 
tion of Grant as President, he invited the young man 
to his house, and bluntly informed him that he proposed 
to make him United States Marshal for Virginia. 
" You need not place any papers on file ; it will be a 
personal appointment. ... In case of a personal ap- 
pointee going wrong, I would be more severe than I 
would upon anyone else." Parker's previous service 



INTRODUCTION. xiii 

and friendly relations for four years in Richmond 
made the appointment welcome. He speedily became 
a part of the reconstruction system, and it was his duty 
to have something to do with the jury in which negroes 
appeared for the first time in a Virginia jury box. 
He brings out the curious fact that Chief Justice 
Salmon P. Chase was very much discomfited to see a 
negro member of the venire, and apparently suspected 
a trick. His service brought him into contact with 
many public men, then or thereafter leaders; among 
them General Garfield and Secretary Boutwell, who 
objected to the service of so young a man in an impor- 
tant district, and told him that he looked like a boy. 
He also met many ex-Confederates, among them 
Mosby and Governor Wise. 

Among other interesting duties was that of breaking 
up a body of filibusters organized in Richmond to go 
to Cuba. Another was to deal with the moonshiners 
who from 1865 to 1869 had had their own way and 
were sometimes defended by ex-soldiers. The tales of 
Parker's experience with counterfeiters and other des- 
perate characters would set up a writer of detective 
novels. Among the incidents of his office was the hon- 
orary title of Colonel, which, like that of the civilian 
inspectors in the Indian service, adhered to him 
throughout his life; though the only basis was the 
belief of a clerk in the State Department that any 
United States Marshal who had acted as escort for the 
President at his inauguration was by a mythical execu- 
tive order created a colonel. At least, his title was not 
based on the principle claimed by one of his Southern 
friends who became a colonel when he married the 
widow of a colonel. He had one experience with the 
Ku-Klux, who, having duly organized in a Virginia 



xiv INTRODUCTION 

town, made for the only Union man they could find in 
the neighborhood, took him out and whipped him, and 
subsequently went to jail for it. Parker was reap- 
pointed Marshal by President Grant, but after two 
years withdrew and was requested to designate his 
successor. 

A fourth field of public service was shortly opened 
to Parker when he was summoned to Washington and 
made Inspector of the Post-Ofiice Department, to in- 
vestigate supposed frauds in transportation of mails 
in Louisiana. He was successful in discovering a long 
and expensive mail route by river on which there were 
no chartered boats at all; such mail as came in was 
carried anyhow. A man at one of the landings kept a 
register of imaginary arrivals of steamers, and regu- 
larly started a stage out from the landing, which, after 
going a few miles, returned to its eyrie. The author 
makes a significant comment on fraudulent claims to 
the amount of $40,000 which he held up : " But ex- 
perience in Washington has taught me that such claims 
generally found their way into the hands of a persis- 
tent claim agent, who, by act of Congress, or otherwise, 
obtained some part of the money." His next experi- 
ence was on the Pacific coast, where he had many en- 
tertaining experiences of breaking into established 
usages and unearthing corrupt methods. Oregon at 
that early period made upon him the impression of im- 
mense resources and capable population which it makes 
upon the visitor to-day. 

From the coast he came back to Washington as Chief 
Post-Ofiice Inspector with a body of ninety men under 
him, whom the Postmaster General called " the fingers 
of the Postmaster General's official hand." So effective 
was his service that he went undisturbed through six 



INTRODUCTION xv 

changes in the head of the Post Office Department. 
The book abounds in instances of ingenious methods of 
defrauding the Government, and of the increasing vigi- 
lance necessary to head off the robbers. On the other 
hand, Parker relates one almost incredible case of a 
contractor for leather pouches who applied to the gov- 
ernment to reduce his compensation on the ground that 
the price of leather had fallen. The student of Ameri- 
can government, and particularly of national adminis- 
tration, may learn much of the interior workings of a 
great executive department from this story by a man 
who was on the inside. 

Among the numerous public men whom Parker met 
were two young members of Congress named William 
McKinley of Ohio, and Joseph G. Cannon of Illinois. 
An entertaining item is his account of the method by 
which the Democratic National Committee of 1876 
sent out personal typewritten letters to voters, a sys- 
tem recently taken up by a Kentucky politician who 
actually undertook to dispatch a signed letter to every 
voter in the state. The famous cipher dispatches sent 
out in that campaign were, for a time, in the custody 
of Mr. Parker, and he gives some interesting details 
about the Electoral Commission of 1877. 

Among " Post Office Depredation Cases " put in 
Parker's charge were several on the frontier and in the 
Indian Agencies, and he made a friend of the Ute 
chief Ouray. He was also interested in, although not 
an organizer of, the railway mail service, the origina- 
tor of which was practically Theodore N. Vail. This 
service from the beginning included the principle of 
retention of skilled men, to the wrath and dismay of 
the newly elected congressmen, one of whom indig- 
nantly asked, " Do you mean to say that I can't put 



xvi INTRODUCTION 

anybody out, and put anybody in, in my district?" 
Mr. Parker was also acquainted with the organization 
and development of the money order system and the 
free delivery service. 

Parker's efficiency in the government service led, in 
1883, to his appointment by the American Bell Tele- 
phone Company to a responsible position; and while 
it was pending he was made postmaster of the city of 
Washington, but he did not accept. Nevertheless, he 
was not allowed to leave the service without tributes 
and presentations from his superiors and friends in the 
department. 

In this service of a private corporation Mr. Parker 
remained throughout the rest of his active life, retiring 
from business in 1898. He was for twelve years an in- 
valid, and at the very end of his life dictated these in- 
teresting and admirable memoirs, full of racy and in- 
structive anecdotes and experiences. President John- 
son once summarily removed him, under the belief that 
a violent speech against the President had been deliv- 
ered by Parker instead of by one Porter, but he was 
immediately reinstated. President Grant knew and 
thoroughly appreciated this straightforward and inde- 
fatigable man. President Hayes had a habit of asking 
that Parker be detailed on investigation of special com- 
plaints. With Garfield and Harrison, James G. Blaine, 
and Speaker Thomas B. Reed he had acquaintance. 
He knew President Arthur well. He met Horace 
Greeley at the time he went on the bail bond for Jeffer- 
son Davis, and occasionally thereafter, and relates 
some interesting details about Frederick Douglass. 

The remarkable interest of this book is due in part 
to the large scenes and large men among whom the 
relator's life was passed, but still more to his own 



INTRODUCTION xvii 

interest in what he was doing, which was the reason 
why he stood among men in high places. A third ele- 
ment is his thorough enjoyment of a good story and a 
dramatic situation. There are many volumes of remi- 
niscences in the same period of time by people who 
were more immediately connected with the political 
side of the Government; but hardly any of them reveal 
so much of the inner workings of the army, of soldier 
life, and of the public service during the critical period 
of the Civil War, and the years immediately following. 
It is an extremely entertaining account of a resolute 
and eventful life, devoted for many years to straight- 
forward, unflinching public service. 

Albert Bushnell Hart. 



BIOGRAPHICAL PREFACE 

THE following is reprinted from the "Army and 
Navy Journal " of October i, 1910: 

" Col. David B. Parker, U. S. V., who died recently at 
his home in EUicottville, N, Y., after an illness of many 
years' duration, was a native of Chautauqua County, and 
won distinction for himself and the county of his birth 
through a varied and honorable military and business 
career. ' At the age of eighteen years,' writes a corre- 
spondent, ' he enlisted in 1861 as a soldier in the Civil 
War as a member of the 72d Regiment, N. Y. Volun- 
teers. He was early promoted to a lieutenancy, and was 
placed by General Hooker in charge of the mail service of 
the Army of the Potomac. This assignment was con- 
tinued when General Meade took command of the Army, 
and still later under the command of General Grant. 
General Grant was greatly attached to the efficient young 
officer, and made a request of President Lincoln to have 
him appointed a special agent of the Post-Office Depart- 
ment to continue his duties in the postal department of 
the Army, and the request was granted. So faithfully 
had he performed the duties assigned to him that his 
ability attracted the attention of superior officers, and at 
the close of the war he was employed to re-establish the 
U. S. mail service in Virginia. General Grant still re- 
tained his interest in Lieutenant Parker, and after he was 
elected President he appointed him U. S. marshal for the 
district of Virginia, and at the end of a four-year term 
reappointed him to the same position. Later he resigned 
the marshalship and re-entered the postal service of the 



XX BIOGRAPHICAL PREFACE 

Government, and then he was made chief of the post- 
office inspectors of the United States, serving in that 
capacity from 1876 until 1883, when President Arthur 
appointed him postmaster of the city of Washington. His 
strong executive abihty having been recognized by men 
of affairs in the nation, he was, at about the same time he 
was named as Washington's postmaster, offered a position 
with the American Bell Telephone Company, which was 
then in a formative period and required the services of 
able men in its various departments. He did not qualify 
as postmaster, but accepted the place offered him by the 
Bell Company. To him was assigned the duty of organ- 
izing branch companies of the parent organization, a work 
in which he was signally successful, and he held the posi- 
tion of director in many of these companies. He organ- 
ized and was made superintendent of the New England 
Telephone Company with headquarters in Boston. Later 
he was made general manager of the New York Tele- 
phone Company, and still later he was made vice-president 
and general manager of the Bell Telephone Company of 
Buffalo, where he made his headquarters for a number of 
years. In his services for the Government during and 
after the war and in his business career with the Bell Tele- 
phone Company he obtained a wide and favorable ac- 
quaintance with the most distinguished statesmen and 
men of affairs in America. He was thrown into close rela- 
tion with President Lincoln, and became intimately ac- 
quainted with Presidents Johnson, Grant, Hayes, Garfield, 
and Arthur, from all of whom he received important com- 
missions. As an executive officer in any line of work he 
attempted he was successful, winning the respect and con- 
fidence of the men with whom he was associated and of 
those against whom he was pitted in extensive business 
enterprises. He was recognized as being honest and 
straightforward in all of his business dealings. Both of 
his grandfathers were soldiers in the War of the Revolu- 
tion. They were Benjamin Parker and Major Samuel 



BIOGRAPHICAL PREFACE xxi 

Sinclair, the latter the first settler within the limits of the 
present town of Charlotte, in this county. His father was 
Dr. Charles Parker. For the past ten years David B. 
Parker had been a confirmed invalid, unable to leave his 
bed or to assist himself in any way. Yet during all of 
these years he kept fully abreast of the times. He re- 
tained a keen interest in public affairs, both in the field of 
business and politics. None of the important events of 
the day escaped him. The daily papers and current litera- 
ture were read to him regularly by those who administered 
to his wants. Friends of his more active days took pleas- 
ure in keeping up their acquaintance and in discussing 
with him the various affairs in which humanity has been 
interested during these years. His mind was as clear to 
the very last, apparently, as it was during the days of his 
vigorous manhood, and no one ever left his bedside with- 
out feeling the better and wiser for the time spent in his 
company. Although helpless, yet with perfect brain and 
speech, he has written (dictated) a large volume in the 
past two years on his experiences with General Grant, 
President Lincoln, Arthur, Johnson, Horace Greeley, the 
Cushings, and hundreds of others. He is survived by a 
wife and two sons.' " 



CONTENTS 

Page 

Introduction by Albert Bushnell Hart . . vii 

Biographical Preface xix 

Chap. 

I The War Through Gettysburg ... i 

II From Gettysburg to Richmond ... 37 

III War-Time Friends 65 

IV Reconstruction of the Postal Service in 

Virginia 109 

V United States Marshac for Virginia . 150 

VI Postal Secret Service, Part I . . . . 195 

VII Postal Secret Service, Part II . . . 243 

VIII Some Recollections of Public Men . . 286 

IX Country Life in Western New York . 335 

Index 371 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

David B. Parker. Portrait enlarged from a group taken 

in 1895 Frontispiece ^ 

Order detailing Private Parker as Mail Agent of Hooker's 

Division 6 '^ 

Copy of Letter from Non-commissioned Officers at 

Hooker's Headquarters, presenting him with Major 

General's shoulder straps 10 "^ 

Copy of Major General Hooker's thanks for shoulder 

straps \Q ^ 

Order commanding all officers to aid and assist Private 

Parker, Mail Agent of Sickles' Division .... 12 ^ 
Pass for Private Parker, Mail Agent of Centre Grand 

Division 16'^ 

Order from Major General Meade for delivery of mail to 

David Parker, Fifth Corps Mail Agent 20 / 

Commission as Second Lieutenant, signed by Governor 

Seymour 221^ 

Lieutenant David B. Parker 24 1^ 

Order installing the Money Order Service in the Army . 28 *' 

Army Mail, Army of the Potomac 37 ^ 

Letter of recommendation from General Hooker . . 40 v- 
Pass for Lieutenant Parker, Mail Agent, superintending 

mail for the Army of the Potomac 44 l^ 



xxvi ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

W. M. Beckwith, Captain, Aide-de-camp, Major, and 

Colonel 48^ 

Letter conveying thanks of Post Ofifice Department to 
Special Agent Parker for promptness in taking pos- 
session of Post Office at Richmond 54 / 

Special Agent Parker and Captain C. E. Scoville . . . 58/ 

Commander William B. Cushing 65 >^ 

Provost Marshal General M. R. Patrick 88 *^ 

Robert Selkirk, Duryee's Zouaves, detailed as a mail 

agent 104 1/ 

Circular containing oath required of postmasters during 

Reconstruction 109 / 

Mr. and Mrs. David B. Parker. From photograph taken 

on their wedding trip 150 - 

Commission as United States Marshal, signed by Presi- 
dent Grant 162. 

Mrs. David B. Parker 176 

Postmaster General Key and Chief Officers of the De- 
partment 195 

General Charles Adams 243 '^ 

President Chester A. Arthur 286 

George A. Sheridan 314- 

Parker Hill 335 

George Sinclair at the age of 87 348 ■ 



A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

CHAPTER I 

THE WAR THROUGH GETTYSBURG 

I WAS born at Ashville, Chautauqua County, New 
York, December 25, 1842. My father, Charles 
Parker, was a practicing physician and the son of a 
Revolutionary soldier from Rhode Island, who settled 
in the town of EUery, near Bemus Point, Chautauqua 
County, in 1812. My mother was the daughter of 
Major Samuel Sinclair, a Revolutionary soldier be- 
longing to the First New Hampshire Regiment, com- 
manded by his uncle Colonel Joseph Cilley. After the 
Revolutionary War my grandfather lived in Oneida 
County, New York, but came to Chautauqua in 1809, 
making a settlement where the town Sinclairville bear- 
ing his name stands. 

While a boy I lived at Fredonia, Jamestown, and 
Forestville, Chautauqua County, and attended the 
schools and academies at those places. My father 
moved from Fredonia to Ellery Center, Chautauqua 
County, in i860. His health, which was quite delicate, 
had given way under the lake winds prevalent at Fre- 
donia, while riding the country over, practicing his 
profession. My grandfather's original settlement in 
1 81 2 was distant about a mile from our home in Ellery 
Center, and I worked upon the farm and raised some 
crops. Everyone was excited over the political events 
of '60, and I was an ardent Republican and admirer of 



2 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

Abraham Lincoln. In the spring of 1861 I felt that 
if war was declared it would be my duty to go. So, 
when Sumter was fired upon, and President Lincoln 
issued his call for three-year volunteers, I was fully 
determined to enlist, but did not announce the fact to 
my parents. Every evening there was a gathering at 
the post-office to hear the latest news, which was read 
from a daily paper. Someone who had just returned 
from Jamestown announced that Captain J. M. Brown 
was raising a company to go to New York and join a 
brigade which General Sickles was organizing. I drove 
the next morning (Sunday) to Jamestown and sought 
Captain Brown. He informed me that his company 
was full and uniforms were being made, and that he 
expected to take his men to New York in a few days, 
but that he had just heard Captain Stevens of Dunkirk 
would also take a conipany to join the same regiment, 
and if I would hurry over there perhaps I could go with 
that company, and then later on an exchange to the 
Jamestown company might be effected, if I wished. 
The Jamestown company attended services at the Pres- 
byterian Church in a body, and I heard a sermon 
preached to them and then drove back to Ellery. When 
I informed my father that I wanted to go at once to 
Dunkirk and enlist, he objected at first, saying that 
more volunteers would offer than could be accepted; 
that I had better wait awhile; that I was very young, 
eighteen, etc. I felt it was right for young men who 
had no family to go first. Father yielded, and we made 
ready to drive to Dunkirk. A young man, Martin 
Boyden, who lived with my uncle, begged to go with 
me, so we two and my father started at nightfall and 
drove as far as Cassadaga, eight miles from Dunkirk. 
The horses were very tired, and we put up at the hotel 



WAR THROUGH GETTYSBURG 3 

at two A. M. We were all placed in one room, and as 
soon as my father was asleep we boys stole out, and, 
leaving word with the hostler for my father to drive to 
Dunkirk at his leisure, we walked on and, arriving at 
Dunkirk, sought Captain Stevens' house and sat on his 
porch until he arose. He said that he had a sufficient 
number enrolled for his company at bedtime, but that 
perhaps some might back out or be rejected by the sur- 
geon, and that he thought I could go, but that my friend 
was under stature, and he noticed his front teeth were 
not good, so he did not think he would be accepted. In 
those days the cartridges were of paper, and in loading 
the end was torn off by the teeth, hence sound front 
teeth were considered a requisite. We went to the 
armory and waited for Captain Stevens. On his ar- 
rival he found that parents had induced several to 
withdraw, and the surgeon had rejected several, and 
he said to us, '* You may go in, and if the doctor passes 
you, I will take you. You seem anxious to go, and 
I like your grit." The doctor examined and passed 
us, and we were told to go in the armory yard and com- 
mence drilling. Sergeant Daniel Loeb, of Captain 
Stevens' old militia company, headed a squad of about 
twenty men and commenced to teach us the rudiments 
of marching. We were in double file, and he explained 
that his order would be : " * Forward ! ' Then you 
don't do a thing. Then when I say, * March ! ' you 
start straight ahead. Then I will want to turn you to 
the right or left, and I will say, * File right! ' Then 
you don't do a thing, just keep marching straight 
ahead. Then when I say, * March ! ' you turn to the 
right — only the head file — the rest don't turn till 
they get there. Now, you keep step and start when I 
give the order." So he marched us about the yard, 



4 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

filing right and left and teaching us to keep in step. 
After a while, as we were marching, he gave the order, 
" File left, March ! " and led the column to the right. 
When my turn was reached, I went to the left as he 
had ordered, but the rest filed on to the right. I reached 
a woodpile, climbed up upon it, and was partly over 
the high board fence, when I heard the command, 
" Halt! " The little Sergeant was heated and worried 
over drilling raw recruits, and when he saw me up on 
the fence he commenced to swear in a mixture of Eng- 
lish and German, saying, "You damned fool, I get 
you discharged now," but some of the squad of men 
immediately said to him, "You said 'File left!' but 
went to the right." Instantly Loeb said, " I can fool 
every damned man of you but that fellow. You get 
down and come back here, and I make you Corporal." 
So I commenced my soldier life. 

Our Captain was District Attorney of Chautauqua 
County, and had lived in the county but a few years. 
He was a very brilliant young man, and Captain of a 
militia company which took second prize in a national 
drill at New York the year previous. The first prize 
went to the company of Captain (afterward Colonel) 
Ellsworth, of Chicago. Captain Stevens was a fine 
soldier, and was promoted until he became Colonel 
of the regiment, and was killed at Chancellorsville. A 
tablet to his memory is in place in Memorial Hall at 
Harvard University — William Oliver Stevens. 

Uniforms were made for us by the ladies of Fre- 
donia and Dunkirk under direction of tailors, and we 
departed Wednesday for Staten Island. While there 
our company was selected to act as escort for the 
Seventh Regiment, which returned to New York after 
sixty days' service at Washington. The New York 



WAR THROUGH GETTYSBURG 5 

papers announced our detail and spoke in complimen- 
tary terms of Captain Stevens and his drilling there 
the year before. We marched from the Cortlandt 
Street ferry up Broadway to the reservoir at Forty- 
second Street. Our handsome little Captain attracted 
attention, and we tried to march correctly; in fact, 
we kept our eyes on the ground fifteen paces in ad- 
vance, and marched about New York without seeing 
a thing but the pavements ahead of us. The veterans 
behind marched at will and saluted their friends on the 
sidewalks, but we thought it incumbent upon us to 
behave in the most soldierly manner. We returned 
down Fifth Avenue, and all were given refreshments 
in City Hall Square, where tables had been erected and 
ladies waited upon us. 

While in camp at Staten Island it happened one day 
that I was on guard in front of Colonel Nelson Taylor's 
tent, when Captain Stevens stopped to speak to him. 
Colonel Taylor asked Captain Stevens to send a soldier 
who wrote plainly to him ; that he wished to have 
copies of the muster rolls of the regiment made, and 
that he would advise each Captain to do the same, say- 
ing that after the Mexican War (in which he was a 
Captain) he had so many official inquiries regarding 
the soldiers of his command which he was unable to 
answer fully, that he had determined to keep a private 
copy of all records of the men of his regiment for 
future reference. Captain Stevens replied, " That sol- 
dier on guard belongs to my company, and I have no 
doubt can do what you want." I was then asked if 
I could write plainly, and was told to commence the 
work. So I wrote a part of each day for the Colonel, 
and although continuing my drill with the company, I 
was still attending to his correspondence after we went 



6 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

to Washington. One day the Colonel directed me to 
take his order and thereafter go to the post-office at 
Washington daily for the mail of the regiment. Many 
of our soldiers had no money and were not paid for 
some time, and I used to take their letters every day 
to the Member of Congress from our District, Reu- 
ben E. Fenton, who franked them, and after a while 
authorized me to write his name, so I franked the 
letters of the regiment " Free. R. E. Fenton, M. C." 
Mr. Fenton fairly earned the title of " Friend of the 
Soldier." He had several men appointed to clerk- 
ships in the Departments, who gave a part of their 
time, under his direction, visiting the hospitals and ren- 
dering assistance in every way possible to New York 
soldiers, not confining their efforts to his own District. 
As he did very many acts of kindness and franked let- 
ters for very many New York soldiers, his name was 
carried to the homes of soldiers throughout the State, 
and in 1864, when he ran for Governor of the State of 
New York against Horatio Seymour, he received, in 
almost every precinct of the State, votes beyond those 
given other candidates of his party ; and while, for 
three days after the election, Horace Greeley tele- 
graphed him daily that he was beaten, he answered, 
" Wait till all the returns are in, and you will find I 
am elected " ; and he was, by the personal vote of 
friends and relatives of New York soldiers. 

A few Sundays after we arrived in Washington, 
and were encamped at Good Hope, about two miles 
out, on a bluff overlooking the Potomac River, Presi- 
dent Lincoln, William H. Seward, and their wives 
drove out to see the evening dress parade of the regi- 
ment. Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Seward stood on the brow 
of the hill behind the Colonel, Mr. Lincoln looking 



WAR THROUGH GETTYSBURG 7 

abstractedly across the Potomac where the Confeder- 
ate soldiers were encamped. After the parade was 
formed, the Colonel turned and saluted the President. 
We could see Mr. Seward reach out his hand and at- 
tract the President's attention. The President, who 
looked to be nearly twice as tall as an ordinary man as 
he stood on the bluff, turned suddenly and seemed to 
unhinge his joints and make an awkward bow. Mr. 
Seward was very familiar with Chautauqua County, 
and that camp was named Camp Seward, and he prob- 
ably brought Mr. Lincoln to see the regiment in the 
camp bearing his name. 

The next time I saw Mr. Lincoln was in the National 
Theater, on Eleventh Street in Washington. The play 
was a burlesque called " Pocahontas," in which Mrs. 
John Wood was the star. At that time the newspapers 
of the entire country, and we soldiers as well, were 
abusing the regimental sutlers, whose prices seemed 
to us exorbitant, and who were called by the patriotic 
people of the country thieves and robbers unstintingly. 
Mr. Lincoln sat in a box with two or three other gentle- 
men and was in plain view. He seemed to enjoy the 
burlesque very much, and at a time when Mrs. Wood 
quarreled with John Smith, she said, " John Smith, 
you are a cruel man. John Smith, you are an unkind, 
thoughtless man ; you are a bad man in every respect ; 
you are the worst man I ever heard of; John Smith, 
you are a S-U-T-L-E-R ! " Mr. Lincoln laughed im- 
moderately, his chair fell over back and his feet came 
up in view, and the other gentleman with him caught 
the chair and straightened it up. 

Our brigade was assigned to Hooker's Division, 
which was then created, and we spent the winter of 
'61 and '62 in lower Maryland on the Potomac River, 



8 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

our regiment and the First Regiment of the brigade 
being camped near together. For a time the mail 
carrier of the First Regiment and I rode daily between 
the camp and Washington, which was thirty-five miles, 
each one carr^-ing the mail for both regiments. Later 
a small steamer was placed in service to a point a few 
miles from our camp, and we carried the mail on the 
steamer. While riding back and forth we became ac- 
quainted with some people on the road, including Union 
people. Men from Baltimore and other parts of Mary- 
land came nightly to points on the Potomac River and 
crossed over in small boats to join the Confederate 
Army; and I was warned repeatedly not to be on the 
road after night or I might be interfered with. One 
night I was a little late in getting back from Washing- 
ton, and when I was about a mile and a half from camp 
and in sight of its lights, where the road passed through 
an undergrowth of bushes on either side, three men 
sprang out, with guns in their hands, and commanded 
me to halt. I had a very good mare, and as I touched 
her with my heels she sprang forward. One of the 
men caught the bridle rein but could not hold it, and 
then he caught my foot, which was also pulled from 
his hand. The mare ran rapidly, and the men fired at 
me when a few feet distant. I judged by the sound 
they were shot-guns, but neither the horse nor I was 
struck by a shot. A detachment of cavalry near our 
camp hurried back and scoured the country but failed 
to find the men. 

During the winter the batteries on the other side, 
at Cockpit Point and below, frequently tried to shell 
our camp. The Confederates maintained a blockade 
of the river, which was effectual ordinarily, but there 
were some violations. I recall a sloop loaded with 



WAR THROUGH GETTYSBURG 9 

wood and with one man aboard passing up the river 
one day, and the batteries, evidently for practice, com- 
menced firing at him. Several shots struck the wood 
on his deck, and one or two passed through his sail. 
The skipper had a United States flag up, and he had 
a long duck-gun that he would fire in return, popping 
up between the piles of wood and blazing away at the 
Confederate batteries. Our soldiers enjoyed this as 
he slowly passed, and artillery officers estimated that 
the Confederates fired many thousand dollars' worth 
of shot and shell. One night the frigate Pensacola, 
which had been building for many years in the Wash- 
ington Navy Yard, passed down the river without her 
armament, but in other respects ready for service. 
The Confederates fired in the darkness, but the frigate 
passed in safety. 

General Hooker recommended to General McClcllan 
that an armed reconnoissance be made upon the other 
side and the Confederates driven away. Permission 
was eventually given, but in a very restricted form. 
One morning our Colonel directed me to go to General 
Hooker's headquarters before I went to Washington, 
and General Hooker himself gave me a letter addressed 
to Major D. H. Rucker, Quartermaster, at Washing- 
ton, and told me to deliver it to no one but Major 
Rucker. I carried my mail to the post-office in Wash- 
ington and then hurried to Major Rucker's office and 
was admitted to his room, where I was told to take a 
seat. A Member of Congress and a constituent were 
trying to impress the Quartermaster with the value of 
a sample of ground mixed feed for horses, for which 
the Congressman asked a contract in behalf of his con- 
stituent. Major Rucker was polite, but said that the 
army preferred corn and oats, and would not buy any 



lo A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

mixed feed. The Congressman was abusive and his 
constituent more so, and the Congressman went out 
threatening that he would see what he could do on the 
floor of the House. Then there came a Colonel of a 
newly arrived regiment, a pompous man. But between 
these visitors I handed the letter to Major Rucker and 
he pointed to a clerk at a desk in the other end of the 
room and said, " Give it to him." I returned to my 
seat. Then the Colonel said, " You are the Quarter- 
master? " 

" Yes, sir." 

" I want you to send at once, where my regiment is 
marching to encamp, full supplies for a regiment of a 
thousand men, tents, wagons, and mules, and full sup- 
plies of every nature." 

Major Rucker said, " Colonel, I will detail a clerk 
immediately and he will — or, have you got your 
Quartermaster with you ? " 

" Yes, he is here," said the Colonel. 

" Well, this clerk will go over the matter with you 
and make out the necessary requisitions for your Quar- 
termaster to sign and for you to approve, and then all 
supplies can be sent. The Quartermaster will receipt 
to me for them. All supplies are under my receipt now, 
and I have to observe the forms in every way in issu- 
ing them, or I would be held personally responsible. 
Here, also, is a volume of the Army Regulations in 
which you will find all necessary instructions and the 
forms of blanks which the Quartermaster will procure, 
but which you can have here for this purpose. The 
clerk will help you." 

He rang his bell and called for a clerk. But by that 
time the Colonel had exploded and was frantic, and 
said, " I have come here to put down the Rebellion, 









Copy of letter from non-commissioned ofiicers at Hooker's Headquarters 
presenting him with Major General's shoulder straps 



^^^?«z^ 4^«^^ ^"^vii^^y ^>6^i^ «/'S'fe<^ 




.?tMrn %^^i^ ^^« <^ <:^^^-^r]fiz/' /»t^0^^^ ^^!^2'i*it^ ^ liA,^^^ 

%^cA'j^^J///^ /^^^ c::y4y^^ ^iWi^ 



Copy of Major General Hooker's ihanks for shoulder straps 



WAR THROUGH GETTYSBURG ii 

and I won't stand any such damned red tape. If you 
won't send the supplies that we need to our regiment, 
I will go to our Congressman and he will rip up this 
Government, if necessary." 

Major Rucker explained again to him and told the 
clerk to show him and prepare the blanks ; and added, 
" This is the quickest way that you can get the sup- 
plies. They will be on the way to your camp in a few 
hours, while if you take any other course there will be 
delay. I cannot issue a single item of supplies without 
proper requisition, and will not." Major Rucker 
seemed very much worried and annoyed, but firm. 

I again offered the letter. He said, " I told you to 
give that to that clerk in the corner there." 

I said, " Yes, sir, but I am instructed to deliver it 
only to you." 

"More of the nonsense of you volunteers! It's 
impossible to do business with you ! " 

" This letter is from General Hooker." 

" Is that from Joe Hooker ? " He opened it and 
read it, and said to his Chief Clerk, " I shall be absent 
about an hour. Come on with me, boy. I am glad to 
jfind some of you volunteer boys have got some sense 
anyhow." 

He had an ambulance wagon standing at his door, 
and we proceeded to Georgetown quickly, where he 
went to the steamer Eagle, which was a New York 
ferryboat in charter to the Government, and gave the 
Captain some instructions, told me to get aboard and 
ordered the Captain to start at once. The Captain 
went to Liverpool Point, and that night General 
Sickles, with a force of men, crossed the river and 
made a reconnoissance, but exceeded his orders and 
engaged in a skirmish which, however, resulted in the 



12 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

withdrawal of the Confederates. During the winter 
General Sickles devoted much time, at the request of 
the President, addressing " war meetings " and enlist- 
ing men. He should be credited, in addition to raising 
his own brigade of 5000 men, with raising many thou- 
sands of other volunteers. 

The next April, 1862, our Division, with other 
troops of the Army of the Potomac, was transferred to 
the Lower Peninsula, our regiment going on a Sound 
steamer, the Elm City, which was used as a transport. 
General Sickles went on this boat also. We arrived at 
Hampton Roads just at morning, and I went up on the 
upper deck where I could see the transports loaded 
with troops, and General Sickles had the Captain run 
our boat close up to the little Monitor. We remained 
there, within a few rods of the Monitor, for a while, 
and suddenly the whole place was in confusion. A tug- 
boat came to us and ordered us back, as they did 
all other transports, into the Rappahannock River. 
Aboard the Monitor everything was excitement. Awn- 
ings were taken down. We saw men soaping the decks 
with tubs of soft soap. Her anchors were taken up, 
and she steamed out toward Norfolk. In spite of the 
orders repeatedly given us to go with the other trans- 
ports to the Rappahannock River, General Sickles 
made the Captain continue out after the Monitor. We 
could then see the cause of disturbance. What looked 
like the roof of a house could be seen coming from 
Norfolk, with two steamers convoying. This was the 
second appearance of the Confederate ram, Merrimac, 
which had sunk the Congress and Cumberland, and in 
turn had been disabled by the Monitor in the famous 
fight a month before. The Monitor again boldly pro- 
ceeded toward her, and General Sickles had our ship 




'c 



in 



•<£ 



WAR THROUGH GETTYSBURG 13 

swerve off toward the Rip Raps, from where we could 
see the engagement. A few shots only were ex- 
changed, and the Merrimac put back to Norfolk and 
never came out again. Her machinery was somewhat 
disabled, and she was destroyed and Norfolk evacuated 
soon afterwards. 

Our Division was landed in Cheeseman's Creek, and 
we marched up in front of Yorktown, where a siege 
was begun. After the evacuation of Yorktown, and 
on the 5th of May, we were engaged all day in the 
battle of Williamsburg. I remained with the regiment 
and was somewhat free to go and come. After part 
of the day I gave what help I could to the Surgeon, 
who operated and dressed wounds near the fighting 
line and had his Assistant Surgeon establish a field 
hospital further back, to which wounded were carried 
after the first examination and first relief. The Con- 
federates had slashed the timber before Williamsburg, 
and our Division took position in this slashing. Gen- 
eral Heintzelman, the Commander of the Corps, and 
General Hooker, the Commander of the Division, re- 
mained in the road between two of our brigades, where 
a battery was stationed. The other Division of our 
Corps, Kearny's, was elsewhere by General McClellan's 
orders. The Confederate General, Jo Johnston, turned 
back and assailed us with a force largely superior to 
our own, and there was a very stubborn contest to dis- 
lodge us from our position. General Heintzelman's 
staff officers, and General Hooker's also, were sent re- 
peatedly back to Yorktown asking General McClellan 
to order in reinforcements. I heard one of these offi- 
cers say that General McClellan was at the gang plank 
of a steamer where Franklin's Division was being em- 
barked to go up the York River when he delivered his 



14 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

message, and General McClellan paid no attention 
whatever to what he said, but cautioned the men, when 
they went up the gang plank, not to fall off, etc. Gen- 
eral Sumner with his Corps was in bivouac within a 
mile of us, but was not ordered to our relief. Our 
losses were very large during the day, the commanding 
officers of three companies being killed and a propor- 
tionate loss throughout the regiment, brigade, and 
Division.^ About five o'clock in the evening General 
Kearny, who had been sent for by Heintzelman with- 
out permission of General McClellan. arrived, and as 
he did so the Confederates withdrew. I remember 
General Kearny coming up the road, which was very 
muddy from the rain, that was falling that day and 
had been for several days, his one arm guiding his 
horse and holding his sword, and calling to his men 
to come on, as he gallantly went in to the relief of our 
Division. Just at that time, probably fifty feet from 
where I stood, the head of a Confederate column, 
which had come around our flank, was pressing us. 
A tall red-headed Confederate officer, without a hat, 
was leading this charge, but as he saw General Kearny 
coming, he turned back, and I plainly heard him say, 
" Fall back to the ravine, the Yankees have got rein- 
forcements." At that moment he was struck by a bul- 
let and sprang in the air and fell back dead. I sent his 
sword, which had the letters " C. S. A." cast in the hilt, 
to Charles Bishop, of Jamestown, who had a museum 
of war relics. 

As we buried our dead comrades that night, we real- 
ized for the first time the horrors of war. At a late 

» The losses were, Seventy-second N. Y. Vols, killed, wounded, and 
missing, igs; Excelsior Brigade of four regiments, 772; Hooker's 
Division, three brigades, and artillery, 1632. 



WAR THROUGH GETTYSBURG 15 

hour Orderly Sergeant Post, of Company D, and I, 
who tented together, spread some blankets under a 
little sapling and lay down to get some rest, but we 
could not sleep, and later a whippoorwill lit in the 
small tree over our heads and commenced his doleful 
song. We got up and drove him away several times, 
but he returned and kept it up till daylight. 

When our regiment went into camp at Staten Island, 
we were placed four in each tent and assigned to them 
according to the alphabet, so my three tentmaTtes' names 
commenced with P. This arrangement, however, did 
not last, and the men chose their own tentmates. I no- 
ticed rather an odd character named Carl Wriborg, 
who was made a laughing-stock by the tentmates with 
whom he happened to be assigned. He was a Hol- 
lander, but spoke English well, was merry, jolly, but 
quite deaf and unused to our ways. His comrades 
seemed to select him for ridicule. Although he showed 
no resentment, I sympathized with him, and as there 
was a vacancy asked him to come- and tent with me. 
His father had been an officer of high rank in the Dutch 
navy, but there were no other members of the family; 
so when the father died, Wriborg came to America to 
make his fortune. He had been well educated, spoke 
several languages fluently, and had obtained a position 
as clerk in the office of the County Clerk at Mayville. 
When the war broke out, he enlisted ; and although too 
deaf to hear orders well, he succeeded in passing the 
surgeon. Wriborg wrote a most beautiful hand, being 
able to write the " court hand " as it was called; and 
our Adjutant asked him to take the clerkship in his 
office, but Wriborg said, " I was a clerk at home ; then 
I was a clerk at Mayville. I can always be a clerk and 
get good pay, but I want to be a soldier and fight for 



i6 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

the country of my choice. I will not be a clerk here." 
So he attended to the duties of a soldier, was very 
zealous at drill, tried to be companionable, was always 
a perfect gentleman, and gradually became popular 
with his comrades. At the battle of Williamsburg the 
dead and wounded were gathered in the evening, but 
he was not found until the next morning. He was 
alive, but had been very badly wounded. He was in 
the most advanced position we had occupied in the 
slashing, lying by a large log, and had two rifles and 
cartridge boxes. He said that just as our regiment fell 
back he was wounded in the leg and could not go, and 
the Confederates charged over him. One of the men 
said, " This Yankee ain't dead," and struck him se- 
verely with the butt of his musket. Wriborg said to 
us, " Go right over there between those logs, and see 
if that man don't lie there." We found a Confederate 
soldier there. " Go over there," he pointed, " see if 
you don't find one there." So he pointed to four or 
five places, and a dead Confederate was found in each 
place. 

" I could n't get up," he said, " and they charged 
over me, but I could shoot them in the back. I got 
another rifle from a dead man lying near and his car- 
tridges, so I kept up shooting all the time while they 
were there, and after that they came back again. I 
pretended to be dead when they came back, and lay 
quiet, then I shot them in the face. I think I have done 
my duty." 

We took him back, and the surgeon examined his 
leg and said it must be operated upon, but Wriborg 
said, " You have got three or four others there." 

" Yes," said the doctor, " but I will take you now." 

" No, not until all the others," and so much time 




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Pass for Private Parker, ]\Iail Agent of Centre Grand Division 



WAR THROUGH GETTYSBURG 17 

elapsed, and Wriborg had lost so much blood, that he 
died. Before dying he said, " I left a will at Dunkirk 
disposing of some jewels and my father's swords, in- 
cluding one presented to him by the United States 
Government for rescuing a crew of an American ship. 
I intend that whatever I have shall be devoted for some 
good purpose, to relieve widows and orphans of our 
soldiers." I do not know whether this was ever 
done. 

A few days after the battle of Williamsburg our 
Colonel, who was then in command of the brigade, 
told me that General Hooker had expressed a wish to 
make some better mail arrangements for the Division, 
and that he had told the General that I was getting our 
mail satisfactorily, and General Hooker asked him to 
send me to him and he would detail me to attend to the 
mails for the whole Division. So I became attached 
to General Hooker's headquarters, and, as it turned 
out, followed him as he was promoted to other com- 
mands. When he was placed in command of the 
Center Grand Division the winter of '62, it was com- 
posed of the Third and Fifth Army Corps, one third 
of the army. He sent for me and placed me in charge 
of the mails of the command, and I was promoted to 
be a Second Lieutenant in my regiment and detailed 
with that rank. Later General Hooker was placed in 
command of the Army of the Potomac, and he again 
sent for me and placed me in charge of the mails of 
the army. I devised the system which we afterwards 
used for the mails, which was very simple, and I was 
permitted to place some men in the Washington post- 
office who directed the manner in which the mails were 
put up for our army. I was also made an Acting 
Assistant Quartermaster, so that I could carry the nee- 



i8 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

essary teams and wagons under my immediate direc- 
tion. When General Meade relieved General Hooker, 
I remained in the same position, and afterwards, 
when General Grant came east, I continued at his 
headquarters in charge of the mails of the armies 
operating against Richmond, until the close of the 
war. 

After the battle of Williamsburg we moved up the 
Peninsula, and there followed the battles of Fair Oaks 
and Seven Pines. Our Division was on the extreme 
left when Couch's Corps was surprised and assailed 
at Seven Pines, and we were marched eastward to this 
position. I remember that we marched until we were 
mixed w^ith the enemy in the darkness, and spent the 
night in the heavy rain storm. As soon as dawn came, 
lines were formed and firing commenced. I had a 
horse, but I found my old tentmate, Sergeant Post, 
and we lay on the ground in the mud with my horse 
standing close by. In the morning we held up our feet 
and let the water run out of our boots, wrung the water 
out of our coats and blankets, and soon had warm sun- 
shine and were ready for whatever duty came. Gen- 
eral Sickles had returned from raising troops and was 
in command of the brigade. I remember his leading 
the charge as the whole line was advanced. The Con- 
federates fled in disorder, and I have never known any 
reason why we did not go on to Richmond, which was 
only about five miles. The Confederates retreated so 
quickly that some sharpshooters, who were in an oak 
tree, could not get down in time and remained in the 
tree, and as we advanced they evidently tried to kill 
General Sickles. Our soldiers saw this, and some of 
them broke ranks, ran ahead to the tree, and shot the 
two men, who fell to the ground. I rode up to where 



WAR THROUGH GETTYSBURG 19 

General Sickles stopped, and as I did so a four-horse 
omnibus came toward us, with Captain MacDonald, 
of our regiment, driving with a colored man seated 
beside him. MacDonald had once been an omnibus 
driver on Broadway in New York, and he swung the 
omnibus up in front of General Sickles, put up his fore- 
finger and said, "'Bus for the battery?" General 
Sickles told him that he would wait for the next one. 
MacDonald got off and told of the 'bus coming into 
our lines with that colored driver. The omnibus and 
team were turned over to our Quartermaster. It bore 
the sign " American House," and years afterwards 
some friends in Richmond told of the incident. One of 
the gentlemen said that they had organized a relief 
corps in Richmond of non-combatants, generally busi- 
ness men, and past the age limit for admission into the 
army, and that when the battle was going on, they got 
the American House omnibus and had four horses 
put on it and loaded it with delicacies and supplies for 
their wounded, and four or five of them started to the 
front with it. Out on the corduroy road near Seven 
Pines, as they began meeting fleeing Confederate sol- 
diers, the team commenced to go very fast and the 'bus 
bounced about; and they tried to call to the driver, 
but he did not seem to be in his seat. One of them 
said he was down on the dashboard trying to run them 
through the Confederate lines, and they shot through 
the 'bus with their revolvers at him. They could not 
open the door until they cut the strap which was tied. 
Then they all piled out on the corduroy road, and the 
colored man succeeded in driving the 'bus through their 
lines and delivering it to his friends. 

The scenes at Fair Oaks were horrible. The ground 
was very wet and in some places covered with water. 



20 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 



Both horses and men lay about in every direction, and 
the heat was intense. The horses would quickly swell 
up so that they would all be lying on their backs with 
their legs extended in the air, and the poor dead sol- 
diers, on both sides, were in the same condition, swollen 
so full that their clothes would burst. As soon as pos- 
sible men were detailed to bury the dead, but in most 
cases this was done by simply shoveling earth upon 
them as they lay, and the earth was in clods so that 
the covering was not complete. The stench was in- 
tolerable. No good water could be obtained. A little 
well was dug and a barrel sunk in the ground, which 
speedily filled with surface water, and this after being 
boiled was the water the soldiers drank. Strict orders 
were issued that all the water should be boiled. Sick- 
ness immediately affected nearly every man. Barrels 
of whiskey were issued. The open barrel was given a 
large amount of cjuinine, and soldiers stood by with a 
stick to stir it when the men were marched up with 
their cups, given a ration, and told to drink it then and 
there. 

Our Division remained in this position, where they 
threw up a hasty line of defense works composed of 
rails, sods, and some earth, until the right was turned 
by Lee, and we were sent whirling back. Then fol- 
lowed the Seven Days' battles, fighting every day, and 
running away every night, ending at Harrison's Land- 
ing, and called by General McClellan and his friends " a 
successful and masterly retreat." 

At Malvern Hill there seemed to be but little reason 
for our losing as many men as we did. The position 
was a wonderfully strong one. Our artillery was 
massed on a hill. The Confederates came through 
the white oak swamp and charged across a valley. The 



Ifeab ^imrlfrs |iftj) ^nnn €GXfs, 

J^j^^M^.^ ^S6i 



'- -::5 

3rder from :\Iajor General Meade for delivery of mail to David Parker, 
Fifth Corps Mail Agent 



WAR THROUGH GETTYSBURG 21 

morning of the battle Captain Doyle of Dunkirk, Cap- 
tain of Company H of our regiment, a highly educated 
and accomplished gentleman, came to me and gave me 
a tin box, saying, " I want you to take this and if any- 
thing happens to me send it to Steven Caldwell. It 
contains" (he opened the box) "money, my watch 
and a diamond cross which was my mother's, which 
I have worn next my body suspended by a chain around 
my neck." 

" Captain," I said, " why do you give it to me? " 

" I expect to be killed this day." 

" Oh," I said, " you can't believe in presentiments." 

" I never have, but I expect to be killed this day, and 
I want you to take this and send it home if anything 
happens to me." 

He was killed that day, I think the only officer of 
our regiment that was. Our men did not seem to be 
dispirited as I heard them talk, nor were the officers, 
including General Hooker. General Hooker and Gen- 
eral Kearny were angry whenever I overheard them 
talking, as I did after we reached Harrison's Landing. 
They sat under a tree in the center of the camp. 
Hooker's words could not be heard where I was, 
but Kearny was very much excited in denouncing 
McClellan, saying that he was a traitor as well as a 
coward, and it would be proved so in time. 

Our gunboats, especially the mortar boats, afforded 
great protection to us after we arrived at the river, 
and the heavy shells from the mortars went screeching 
through the air. Confederate soldiers I have met in 
after years said they feared them more than they did 
any troops. 

While at Harrison's Landing, General Hooker was 
visited by George Wilkes, the editor and proprietor 



22 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

of " The Spirit of the Times," in New York. He w; 
an old friend of General Hooker's, probably in Cal 
fornia. They had frequent consultations, in whic 
General Kearny quite often joined, and it was not lor 
before the press of this country was copying tl 
able editorials written by George Wilkes, criticisir 
McClellan. I have read that Wilkes, who died not vei 
long after, showed an ability in his series of articles c 
McClellan and his campaigns never excelled in th 
country. 

Mr. Lincoln visited Harrison's Landing and w; 
brought up from Norfolk by the Dispatch Boat ( 
Commodore Porter's squadron, in command of rr 
friend Lieutenant William B. Gushing. Gushing g( 
a horse while Mr. Lincoln was ashore with Gener 
McClellan, and rode up to our camp, and I went wil 
him to General Sumner's headquarters where Alon2 
Gushing, his brother, was Chief of Artillery for Sun 
ner's Corps. Lieutenant Gushing could be gone but 
few hours, so we all three rode back to his ship. T\ 
enemy, whom McClellan insisted that he had whippe 
in each battle during the retreat, was not so badly hu; 
nor so afraid of McClellan but that they could ha\ 
immediately marched northward and without stoppin 
at Richmond proceeded to Washington. Then oi 
troops were hurried in transports around to Ale: 
andria and ordered to General Pope, who was i 
command of the defenses of Washington, leavin 
McClellan without a command, and the second batt 
of Bull Run and the battle of Chantilly were fougl 
under General Pope. General Hooker kept his Divisic 
together, and after General Kearny was killed at Char 
tilly, had both Divisions under his command, and W2 
credited with covering the retreat of the army, whic 




o 



WAR THROUGH GETTYSBURG 23 

had been ignominiously beaten. I remember General 
Kearny's body being brought in as I was starting for 
Washington, by General Hooker's orders, with dis- 
patches. That night I rode with an Orderly through 
the village of Accotink in the moonlight, and as I did 
so I found that we were being chased by some cavalry- 
men, who I felt sure were Confederates, and after- 
wards I learned that they were. When we came to the 
place where the road turns in to Washington's home, 
I directed my tired horse into the plantation and on to 
the house at Mt. Vernon. It was a rule during the 
war that any one of either side was safe while in Mt. 
Vernon. There was no fighting there, and we were 
not followed into the grounds. I remained there until 
daylight and then went on to Washington. Our Divi- 
sion was soon placed under the command of General 
Sickles, and General Hooker was ordered to the com- 
mand of the First Army Corps. General Lee pushed 
forward toward Pennsylvania, and McClellan was called 
to the command of the army again and met Lee at 
Sharpsburg or Antietam. Our Division, however, re- 
mained at Alexandria and Fairfax Court House, the de- 
fenses of Washington, so I saw nothing of the Antietam 
campaign. Lee retired to Fredericksburg after the 
battle, and the Army of the Potomac was concentrated 
in front of him under the command of Burnside. Then 
followed the failure of Burnside, and Hooker was 
placed in command of the army. I was at General 
Hooker's headquarters when he commanded the Center 
Grand Division of the army, and also when his head- 
quarters were at Falmouth after he took command of 
the Army of the Potomac, and our base of supplies 
was at Acquia Creek with a railroad connecting it with 
Falmouth. That winter I ran daily on the steamer 



24 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

from Acquia Creek to Washington with the mails. 
As soon as I was given larger responsibility, I inau- 
gurated the plan of having a single mail agent bring 
the mail from Washington to a point of distribution 
within the army, where it was delivered to agents of 
divisions and brigades. So it happened that while I 
carried the mail of the Center Grand Division alone on 
the steamer, the other two divisions of the army sent 
thirty or forty men with passes for their mails. Very 
many of these men were also engaged in bringing in 
supplies which they traded in camp, the mails being 
a secondary consideration. When General Hooker 
called a meeting of the Commanders of the whole 
army and they discussed all affairs connected with the 
army, he said he found that everybody was dissatis- 
fied with their mail arrangements except the Generals 
from his own Grand Division, who said they were 
receiving their mails satisfactorily. So he sent for me 
again and told me to put the same system in operation 
for the whole army. Ever afterwards only two men 
went to and from Washington with the mails, which 
were distributed systematically throughout the army. 
General Grant, in his report of 1864, said that the 
army under him had mail facilities equal in conven- 
ience to the most favored community. 

The army regulations were silent as to any arrange- 
ments for mail-service facilities for sending or receiv- 
ing money, and I was asked how I could send the sol- 
diers' money home. I, at all times, urged soldiers not 
to enclose any money in their letters, and I devised a 
plan. I was seated at a table near the Paymaster when 
he was paying the men, who came in companies with 
their officer in charge, and as soon as a man was paid, 
if he wished to send money home he stepped over to 




Lieutenant David B. Parker 



WAR THROUGH GETTYSBURG 25 

my table, and I wrote his name and company on a pay- 
roll blank, which I used for the purpose, with the name 
of the person to whom he wished to send the money 
and the amount. The soldier was asked the name of 
the town nearest to his home that had an express 
office, and was told to inform his folks that the money 
would be at that express office. Then I put the money 
in a haversack and made a separate roll for each of the 
ten companies. The first occasion I did this, in the 
winter of '61, I did not get away from camp for Wash- 
ington until so late in the day that I was unable to ride 
through and had to remain over night at Piscataway 
in the country tavern. The landlord was a Union 
man, and I had stopped there before. There were no 
fastenings on the door to my bedroom, but I put my 
haversack of money in the bed and secured the door as 
well as I could. That part of Maryland was infested 
with men from Baltimore and other parts of Maryland, 
who were making their way to the Potomac River and 
crossing to the Virginia side to go into the Confederate 
army, and some rather rough characters were met on 
the road at times. The landlord came to my room be- 
fore morning and told me who he was, and I removed 
the barricade of chairs and things and let him come in, 
and he said he did not think it was safe for me to ride 
to Washington alone; that there were rumors that I 
was carrying money, and some suspicious strangers 
were about, and he was afraid they would waylay me. 
I told him that I would not go until daylight, and I 
did not think there could be any danger. But after 
I had ridden a distance in the morning two men ap- 
peared to be close behind me, and I thought, perhaps, 
were waiting until I reached a more lonely part of the 
road. I rode rapidly and they did the same. Finally 



26 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

I concluded to stop in front of a house where there 
were men at work and let them go past ; but they came 
up and spoke to me, and one of them said, " Young 
fellow, we decided that we would ride in part way to 
Washington and keep you in sight. We are Union 
men living at Piscataway, and there was talk you was 
going to have trouble going through to-day." 

I thought the men were frank and honest, and I rode 
right on with them. We passed some men further on 
who behaved very suspiciously, and my friends said, 
" Two of those are the fellows that were at Piscata- 
way last night. They are the men that were after 
you." My friends turned back a little later, and I went 
on to Washington. I went to the Adams Express 
Office and found the manager and told him that I 
wanted to send this money and showed him the sheets 
that I had prepared, and he said, " Well, we will tend 
to that this evening. I will put it in the safe for you 
now, and you come back after we are closed, and I will 
keep some clerks here and we will get off that money 
if it takes all night." This accommodating manager 
was named Hogg, but in spite of his name was ready 
to do anything for a soldier. We made up the pack- 
ages, enclosed the money without a word of informa- 
tion, sealed the little bundles, and receipts were given 
me, and the money all went safe. 

Later on, after I was in charge of the mails of the 
whole army, I used to go to the regiment when the 
Colonel sent for me to take the money, and this service 
was appreciated by the soldiers. When the regiment 
was mustered out in 1864 at the Baltimore and Ohio 
Station in Washington, they boarded a train of flat 
cars, having rude seats nailed on them, and as they 
started for home a big-voiced soldier called out, " Three 



WAR THROUGH GETTYSBURG 27 

cheers for Lieutenant Parker. He sent our money 
home all the time, and every cint got home safe. Let 's 
pledge oursilves that we'll all vote for him for Post- 
master Gineral," and the regiment moved off giving 
me the cheers. 

In the winter of 1864 the Post-Office Department in- 
stalled the money order service, and it was arranged 
that that service should be established in the army 
under my charge. The books and instructions came, 
and I had several interviews with the zealous Superin- 
tendent of the Money Order System at the Department 
at Washington, who had objected to extending the 
service to the army. He had been several years pre- 
paring the details of the system and securing the neces- 
sary legislation from Congress, and was extremely 
anxious as to its success, I had an extension built on 
the post-office at City Point and a couple of young 
men detailed to be clerks in the money order room. 
Then I had an explanatory circular issued giving full 
information as to how money orders could be obtained 
and how they were paid, etc., signing my name as 
Special Agent of the P. O. Department, and below ap- 
peared the words, " Approved for Promulgation 
throughout the army. U. S. Grant, Lieut. General, 
by T. S. Bowers, Adjutant General." These circulars 
were posted up at every camp and were also read on 
dress parade by the adjutants of the regiments, and 
everyone was fully informed. We were not fairly 
ready when a steamboat arrived with paymasters 
enough to pay the entire army. General Grant having 
made this arrangement, contemplating movement of 
the army in the campaign. The paymasters went to 
their regiments, and the very next morning we found 
a long line of officers and soldiers at the office desiring 



28 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

to purchase money orders. The instructions limited 
the orders in amount to $30 each, and stipulated that 
not more than two orders should be issued to any re- 
mitter payable at the same post-office the same day. 
I had remonstrated with the Superintendent of the 
Money Order Service regarding this limitation, but 
was stopped quickly and told that it could not be 
changed and was the law; but almost the first man 
who asked lor an order had $1200 to send. He was a 
Captain who had been a prisoner at Andersonville a 
long while, and was now exchanged and had received 
his back pay. He wished to send this money to a small 
town in Pennsylvania. I said, " According to regu- 
lations you can only send $60 in one day. You will 
have to come back another day." 

" Well," he said, " can't you take the money from 
me and keep it until you can send it? We may be in 
a battle to-morrow." 

I said, " I will send the orders now. Your people 
may have to wait a little to get all the money." 

" That 's all right," said he, " it will be in a place 
of safety." 

So I issued to this officer orders for all he wished to 
send, and continued to do so to others. The money 
received from the sale of money orders was sent daily 
by a soldier mail agent on the boat in a common haver- 
sack bag and delivered to the postmaster at Washing- 
ton and receipt obtained therefor. Then the Money 
Order Superintendent's Office, on receipt of advices 
that the orders had been issued, arranged with the New 
York postmaster to have funds at the paying office to 
meet the orders, a small amount being allowed at each 
office and drafts being sent from New York when 
required. The third day after I commenced to issue 



|ost iffite gepartmeut. 

MONEY^ORDER OFFICE. 



fl/nt 



Sir: 

The Postmaster Genernl has designated your ofEce as a Monet-order Post Office of the 
Second Class. 

Pamphlets containing instructions with reference to the money-order business, as well as the 
forms, blanks, Ac, required at your office for conducting the same, will be forwarded to your 
address as early as practicable. 

I enclose herewith a blank bond, conditioned in the sum of % <9...i)..C.£l.^^.,...< which you are 

requested to execute immediately, and return to my address. Upon the receipt thereof, you will 
be duly notified of the mode of obtaining funds to commence the money-order business, and also 
of the date upon which it is to be commenced. 

The amount of money-order funds which you will be allowed to retain in your hands as a 

reserve (see section 49 of the Instructions) has been fixed at $ fJ..G...G.,r. This amount will 

be increased or diminished, as circumstances may jyarrant; and of any such change you will be 
duly notified. 

The deposits snecified in section 47 of the Instructitins yon are directed to make with the 

Postmaster at .. y/li/l/K //H/f'Tfi/^. / .,. /j..i..-SO , , who will fill up duplicate receipts 

for each amount deposited by you. Instructions have been given him to forward the originals of 
such certificates to the Department, and to transmit the duplicates to you. 

You are requested to study carefully the Instructions with reference to the money-order 
business, and to- lend your aid and assistance in rendering the system perfect in all its details. 
Yours, respectfully. 



^>1^, <^ c^X:?aed^yva/Ay 



SuptriiUeTtdmt Monty-order Office. 



A^ /)v4^Cti^' Poatmaater at Q'du..i/oimJ',. 

Order installing the Money Order Service in the Army 



WAR THROUGH GETTYSBURG 29 

the orders, I received a long telegram from the Super- 
intendent of the Money Order Service, saying that the 
postmaster at Washington had reported the receipt of 
money with letters of advice that showed that I was 
issuing money orders without regard to the limitations 
of two orders a day, and that I must discontinue the 
practice immediately, or my disregard of orders would 
be brought to the attention of the Postmaster General. 
I replied by telegraph that the army was being paid 
off preliminary to entering upon a campaign, and that 
the soldiers had no place of safety in which to deposit 
their money, and desired to send it home; that I had 
deliberately drawn the orders for any amount asked 
for, and that any delay at the paying office would not 
imperil the soldiers' money which they wished to send 
to their families; that I should continue to issue the 
orders as I was doing, and that I congratulated the 
Superintendent of the Money Order Service on the 
fact that the soldiers were availing themselves of the 
privilege to an extent that would advertise the Money 
Order Service throughout the whole country and make 
it fully understood. 

I heard no more on the subject, but twenty years 
afterward, when I resigned as Chief Post-Office In- 
spector at Washington, a banquet was tendered me by 
the Postmaster General and officers of the Post Office 
Department, including this same Superintendent of the 
Money Order Service, and he brought to the bancjuet 
these telegrams referred to and read them, and said 
that he felt indignant when he received my telegram 
and took it to Postmaster General Dennison, and said, 
" * I demand this man's immediate suspension from 
duty.' The Postmaster General read my telegram to 
Mr. Parker and his answer, and then said, ' Dr. Mc- 



30 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

Donald, I guess that young man is right. You had 
better let him alone. It would not be a popular thing 
to stop his work and require those soldiers to carry 
their money in their pockets into battle.' " 

General Hooker's reverse at Chancellorsville seemed 
to worry and humiliate him greatly. I heard many 
officers say, however, that he was unpopular with the 
commanders of his army; that while they were nearly 
all most excellent men, they did not like Hooker, who 
had resigned from the old army in California to en- 
gage in business, in which he failed and had afterwards 
served as a wagon-master with the army. The gen- 
eral feeling among General Hooker's staff officers was 
that he did not have the free and full support of his 
Generals that would have been secured to General 
McClellan. Certainly the Corps Commanders of the 
Army, with the exception of General Sickles, were not 
often seen visiting General Hooker. I never saw Gen- 
eral Meade calling upon him even while General 
Hooker commanded the Third and Fifth Corps, com- 
posing the Center Grand Division, and the Fifth Corps 
was commanded by General Meade. I recall the time 
that General Hooker was sent for by Mr. Lincoln. 
General Meade rode over the next morning, after Gen- 
eral Hooker had gone, to command as Senior Officer. 
The Adjutant General and other officers were at break- 
fast. General Meade went to the Adjutant General's 
office, which was a Sibley tent, and opened the flap to 
stoop and enter, as a soldier, who was building a fire 
in the stove and taking up ashes, was coming out. The 
pan of ashes struck General Meade's breast and covered 
him. He showed a very irascible temper and cursed 
the soldier roundly. All that I saw of General Meade 
afterwards, however, was a reserved courtly gentle- 



WAR THROUGH GETTYSBURG 31 

man. He was not personally popular with his staff 
officers, but no one could criticize his conduct or his 
patriotism. I remember that, after Gettysburg, the 
staff officers of the army, under a recent law, were 
given more rank and pay than they had been receiving. 
Recommendations from the generals of the army passed 
through General Meade's headquarters daily to Wash- 
ington and were approved, but his own staff was ig- 
nored. This occasioned comment one evening about 
the camp-fire. His own son being one of the staff offi- 
cers was included in the conversation, but he said he 
did not dare speak to his father on the subject, and 
thought quite likely that if he recommended promo- 
tions his father would leave him out. General Seth 
Williams, the Adjutant General, who was one of the 
great men of the war but served in a position that did 
not bring him prominently before the public, volun- 
teered to speak to General Meade, and said he would 
do it then. He approached General Meade and brought 
the matter to his attention. General Meade said, in a 
petulant way, " Make out a recommendation for pro- 
motion for every mother's son of the whole crowd." 
This was done, but General Meade's remark was re- 
peated, and his hard-worked staff officers felt that his 
manner was not as agreeable as they knew his heart 
was good. 

I am not competent to review the Chancellorsville 
campaign, and do not undertake to do so, but I think 
that Stonewall Jackson's attack upon the Eleventh 
Corps and their quick retreat effected such change in 
Hooker's plan that he was not able to make a success 
of the movement. Certainly General Hooker was be- 
loved by his men immediately under his command, and 
was kind-hearted. No one has ever questioned his 



32 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

patriotism or his valor. Lieutenant General Schofield, 
in his Memoirs, recalls an incident where General Sher- 
man and General Hooker stood in a position that was 
assailed by a storm of shot and shell. They were not 
friendly, but neither one would start first to move 
away, and General Schofield describes it as something- 
remarkable, the calm demeanor of these two brave 
men who he thought would both be shot down in an 
instant. I saw General Hooker under fire more than 
once, and I am sure he gave no thought in the world 
to the danger. 

General Meade was respected by everyone and had 
the confidence of his men and officers, but I never 
heard anyone say that he had developed love and affec- 
tion for him. 

When General Lee started for his Pennsylvania 
campaign in 1863, General Hooker moved north nearly 
parallel with him and between him and Washington, 
until relieved at Frederick by General Meade, who 
kept on the same course until Gettysburg was reached 
and the eventful battle took place. 

I kept up the best communication I could for the 
mails of the army, and they were not interrupted for 
more than three days at any one time, until General 
Grant moved south from the Rappahannock River in the 
spring of 1864, when, I think, the mails were not deliv- 
ered to the soldiers for five days. I returned from Fred- 
erick, Maryland, where Meade relieved Hooker, with 
the mails to Washington, and then started the next day 
with two men and a car-load of mail to reach the army. 
A guerrilla party under Harry Gilmore had raided about 
Baltimore and burned some of the railroad bridges, re- 
turning successfully to Lee's army again. When we 
came to one of those burned bridges near Baltimore 



WAR THROUGH GETTYSBURG S3 

with our car-load of mail, we found there a company 
of Pennsylvania infantry and a temporary raft bridge 
that had been built across on the water, and the pas- 
sengers from our train climbed down the bank on one 
side and crossed the river and then up the bank on the 
other, where another train awaited them. I went to 
the Captain of the company of militia and asked him 
to have his soldiers carry our mail-bags across the 
river and to the car on the other side, else I would not 
be able to take them along with the train. He was very 
indignant and insulting, saying they were soldiers and 
not pack-carriers. I then went to the tent where a 
telegraph operator was, and asked him to get the War 
Department at Washington and address a telegram 
direct to the Secretary of War, telling him that I was 
there with a car-load of mail for General Meade's 
army, and that this Captain, whose name I gave, re- 
fused to allow his soldiers to carry the mail across the 
river, and that I would be unable to take the mail to the 
army unless he did. The operator said he could get a 
direct wire, and there came an answer almost instantly, 
addressed to the Captain, telling him to turn over the 
command to his next officer, who was to order out his 
entire command to carry the mail for their brother 
soldiers who were in battle across that river, and that 
charges would be preferred against the Captain. 
Thereupon the Lieutenant and his men turned out and 
cheerfully carried the bags across. I had shown the 
Captain the signature of General Hooker requiring all 
officers of the army to give me assistance, etc. 

I really saw but little of the battle of Gettysburg. 
I reached there by Westminster, and the mail was de- 
livered throughout the army by the Quartermaster's 
wagons. By the system that I had, letters were gath- 



34 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

ered from the soldiers, no matter if upon the firing 
line, daily, and taken back to a place of safety and then 
dispatched as soon as possible, so that every soldier 
felt that he could write at any moment that he could 
take the time, and hold the letter, knowing that it would 
be gathered up and taken back, even if there should be 
delay afterwards in its transmission. A large mail 
was ready to go from the army, and I succeeded in 
arranging so that it was dispatched every day until 
the army crossed the Potomac at the Point of Rocks, 
going southward after Lee. I was ordered by General 
Meade to get an engine, if necessary, and go in with 
dispatches that were given me, to Washington, and 
stop at Baltimore and deliver requisitions for supplies 
to the Commissary there. Colonel Clarke, the Chief 
Commissary of the army, said that he preferred to 
have me do that than to send anyone else. He said, 
" What you have got to do is to get an old man, whom 
I have known for my lifetime, almost, in the regular 
army, awake, and ship those supplies, things that we 
need very much, and do it without delay. Now you 
must exercise your own tact and ingenuity to do that. 
He would take a month to fill these requisitions if 
alone." 

Baltimore was a large depot of commissary supplies 
and stores. I got an engine, and was accompanied by 
one officer. General Haupt, who happened to come just 
in time. We ran rapidly to Baltimore. On arrival I 
went to Colonel Prescott Smith's house. He was the 
General Manager of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. 
I knew him. He was energetic and patriotic. He had 
a party at his house of some kind, but he came at once 
with me, bringing his ear-trumpet, for he was very 
deaf, and said he would know exactly what to do. He 



WAR THROUGH GETTYSBURG 35 

first drove rapidly to his office, where he got in com- 
munication with his own people and ordered trains out. 
Then we drove to the Union League headquarters, 
where bells were rung by signals that were known to 
the Union men of the city. Then we drove to the com- 
missary stores, which were long buildings with rail- 
road tracks opposite them. Trains began to arrive in 
an incredibly short time, and men, that I understood 
numbered nearly ten thousand, came with rifles from 
every direction, at the call of the bells, the Union 
League call. These men embraced the leading citizens 
of Baltimore, and they went into those storehouses and 
hauled out barrels and boxes, without regard to tally- 
ing, and loaded them into the cars. The old Com- 
missary was wringing his hands and saying that he 
was ruined; that all those supplies were under his 
control and responsibility, and here two or three mil- 
lion rations were being taken away from him without 
tallying or receipts being given. He said, " Your 
requisitions won't be filled because they are not taking 
out proportionately, according to the requisitions." 
I suggested to him that he and his two clerks could fix 
that by going about and directing that they should take 
the articles that would go to make the complete rations 
in better proportions, and I said, " You need have no 
fear. Colonel, but that your accounts will be made 
straight. The army can't wait for these supplies," and 
calmed him as well as I could, and Colonel Smith and 
some of the citizens, including a Mr. Pratt, a very 
rich and philanthropic man, talked the same way, and 
the Commissary took hold and helped. I then went on 
to Washington and returned with two car-loads of mail 
and one man, because the rest of the agents were with 
the army or on the road. This time we took the mail 



36 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

to Point of Rocks, the advance of the Army of the 
Potomac having reached there, and the mails were 
placed in the Quartermaster's wagons for the different 
Divisions and taken to the army, so that the survivors 
of Gettysburg received their letters from home. 




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CHAPTER II 

FROM GETTYSBURG TO RICHMOND 

THE army next made camp along the Orange and 
Alexandria Railroad in Orange and Culpepper 
counties, Virginia, General Meade's headquarters being 
near Brandy Station, and our mails, as well as other 
supplies, were taken to the army from Alexandria by 
rail. Two four-horse wagons carried the mail from 
the Washington City post-office to the train at Alex- 
andria, a distance of eight miles, every morning, leav- 
ing the Washington post-office at five o'clock and driv- 
ing the eight miles in one hour. In the afternoon the 
mails were returned in the same way. 

General Grant came east and established his head- 
quarters at Culpepper Court House. I went with the 
other officers of General Meade's headquarters and 
called upon General Grant to pay our respects. We 
were introduced and walked by, as is common in public 
receptions. I made arrangements with his Adjutant 
General covering their mail service and Washington 
dispatches, but did not see General Grant again, until 
one day about a week before the armies moved south- 
ward, when I received a message from Colonel Bowers, 
General Grant's Adjutant-General, to come over to 
Culpepper, a short ride. When I entered Colonel 
Bowers' office, he said, " General Grant wishes to see 
you and we will go right into his room." His head- 
quarters were in a private brick residence. Colonel 



38 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

Bowers introduced me and withdrew, leaving me alone 
with General Grant, I have never in my lifetime felt 
so great a surprise as I did from the beginning to the 
end of that interview. General Grant said, in effect, 
" We are about to move against the enemy, and our 
mails are very important to us, so I have sent for you 
to inform you of my plans that you may make your 
mail arrangements accordingly." There was no im- 
position of secrecy or caution of any kind, but he went 
on to say what day the army would move, and that he 
would cross the Rappahannock and proceed toward 
the enemy, who probably would not make a stand at 
first, but his own movements would have to be regu- 
lated by General Lee's, as he proposed to find him and 
engage him in battle. He said he thought after leav- 
ing the Rappahannock a base for supplies would be 
made at Acquia Creek, and that I had better so calcu- 
late, but that I could have the mails delivered as the 
army left their quarters, and then probably be able to 
follow in a couple of days with the mails. Every news- 
paper in the country was discussing the probability of 
General Grant's advancing, and guessing as to the time 
and direction. I felt that a great responsibility had 
been placed upon me by giving me the information, 
and I also felt proud to think that I was entitled to 
confidence. General Grant further said that the or- 
ganization of the anny would change so that the 
Quartermaster's, Commissary's, and Provost Marshal 
General's Departments would be attached to his head- 
quarters, which would be called " The Armies Operat- 
ing against Richmond," and that Colonel Bowers would 
make the necessary order, also, for my transfer to his 
headquarters. 

When the army moved the mails were delivered to 



GETTYSBURG TO RICHMOND 39 

them up to the last moment, and the second day after- 
ward mails were brought by train to Rappahannock 
Station, where hospital cars filled the tracks to be ready 
for receiving wounded from the expected battle and 
transporting them to Washington. No information 
was received from the army, but many stragglers came 
pouring in with all sorts of tales of disaster. High 
bounties and drafting had brought to the army re- 
cruits of a very different character from those who 
enlisted from patriotic motives earlier in the war, and, 
as General Grant moved southward, the country was 
filled with stragglers called by the soldiers " Coffee 
Coolers," who threw away their arms and slipped out 
from their commands. Small cavalry detachments 
were kept moving along the line of the railroad from 
Alexandria to Rappahannock, and guards were sta- 
tioned in block houses at all bridges, there being danger 
of the destruction of the railroad by Mosby's very 
active guerrillas. Telegraph communication to Rappa- 
hannock Station was open, and I inquired at the War 
Department frequently as to the advisability of trying 
to go with the mails to General Grant. At length I 
was told not to endanger the mails nor to carry the 
packages of dispatches, which I had, and which I was 
directed to turn over to the Surgeon in charge of the 
hospital train, but that I might take an escort of cav- 
alry and go through to General Grant, from whom 
nothing had been heard. I was told, at length, what to 
say to him, verbally, about news from General Sher- 
man and General Thomas. Accordingly I left Rappa- 
hannock Station at one o'clock in the afternoon with an 
escort of fifty cavalrymen and rode in the direction he 
had marched, crossing at United States ford, and reach- 
ing General Grant at nine o'clock that evening, the ride 



40 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

being a little over thirty miles. He had not heard from 
Washington, but did not seem to be disturbed about 
that. He asked me if I could start back early in the 
morning, and said that I had better go by way of Fred- 
ericksburg, so I started at five in the morning, bearing 
a dispatch and carrying some mail strapped on the 
troopers' saddles, for although Secretary Stanton had 
told me not to risk carrying the mails to the army from 
Rappahannock, I had had the small pouches contain- 
ing the mail for the brigade, division, and corps head- 
quarters, for the whole army, taken by the cavalry 
escort, so that the general officers of the army did 
receive their mail at that time. I rode back with an 
escort through Fredericksburg, where wounded men 
were being taken to the Court House and other build- 
ings, and pressed on to Belle Plain opposite Acquia 
Creek. Some hospital transports and supply vessels 
were beginning to arrive at Acquia Creek, but were 
guarded by several gunboats. One of the officers told 
me that their orders were to proceed to Acquia Creek 
and then await further orders. I secured passage on 
one of the patrol boats and reached Washington very 
late at night, going at once to the War Department, 
where the Lieutenant of the Guard took me to the tele- 
graphing room on the second floor, saying that Mr. 
Lincoln was there, having just come over from the 
White House. The Lieutenant opened the door of the 
room and said : 

" An officer from General Grant." 

Almost before I could get into the room, Mr. Lin- 
coln stepped forward and said, " Give me the dis- 
patches." I handed him the dispatch, which was in 
cipher. There was but one operator there, and he was 
not a cipher operator. Mr. Lincoln expressed impa- 






f^ ^. 



x?^^ <:;3^i5^^ 



^ / 






Letter of recommendation from General Hooker 



GETTYSBURG TO RICHMOND 41 

tience and requested that the cipher operator should be 
sent for. I told him that I knew the contents of the 
dispatch, which had been read to me so that I might 
destroy it, if necessary, and I repeated to him as well 
as I could the dispatch, which was not a long one. He 
said, " General Grant ought to keep us better informed. 
This is the first news we have had from him." I said 
that I knew that messengers had been dispatched each 
day over land, and that probably they would arrive 
soon. He then plied me with questions about the army 
and its movements. I answered as well as I could, 
giving such information as I had obtained the night that 
I spent in camp. Mr. Lincoln looked very haggard 
and careworn, and had evidently arisen from his bed, 
pulled on some trousers and an old dressing-sack and 
slippers and walked over, a short distance, to the War 
Department, to see if any news had arrived. His 
anxiety seemed very great. He finally said : 

" Come back early in the morning, and dispatches 
will be prepared for you to take back." 

" What time do you call early, Mr. Lincoln? " 

" Five o'clock." 

I went away, got a bath and something to eat, and 
was back at the War Department at five o'clock. Mr. 
Lincoln was in Mr. Stanton's room, and General Hal- 
leck and Colonel Hardie were also there. I was given 
a blue pencil and made to mark upon a map the loca- 
tion of the army as well as I could, and to explain all 
that I knew. Dispatches were given me, and I returned 
immediately to General Grant, taking two men and the 
mail for the whole army on a small steamer. Com- 
munication had been opened with Acquia Creek, and 
large numbers of wounded were being brought in am- 
bulances and wagons for transportation to the hospitals 



42 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

at Washington. I learned afterward that soon after 
I left the War Department one of the scouts, Sergeant 
Plume, arrived with lengthy dispatches from General 
Grant, but he had been three days on the way, being 
afoot most of the time, because the whole country was 
full of detachments of Stuart's Confederate Cavalry, 
who picked up our stragglers and imprisoned them in 
Confederate prisons. I returned at once from the army 
to Acquia Creek and thence to Washington, and again 
delivered dispatches at the War Department. Mr. Lin- 
coln was there again. I informed Mr. Lincoln that 
as I was leaving the army I heard that General Sedg- 
wick had just been killed, and that his body was being 
brought in. The dispatch I bore, of course, did not 
give this information. Mr. Lincoln said : 

" Poor Uncle John ! " and turning to Mr. Stanton 
added, " General Wright must have that promotion. 
We have not treated him fairly." 

As I left the room, Mr. Lincoln stepped toward the 
door and said, " Lieutenant, is there anything I can do 
for you? " 

" No, sir, thank you ; you need not take me on your 
mind." 

" Where are you from ? " 

" Chautauqua County, New York." 

" Is Dunkirk in Chautauqua County ? " 

" It is." 

" When I passed through Dunkirk," said Mr. Lin- 
coln, " to go to New York to make a speech in the 
Cooper Institute in '60, a queer incident happened. 
As the train pulled into Dunkirk, some men came into 
the car and said, ' Come out here, Mr. Lincoln, we 
want you,' and I stepped out. Some men were carry- 
ing a hogshead that had handles fixed to it, and quite 



GETTYSBURG TO RICHMOND 43 

a crowd was collected. One of the men said, ' Please 
step up on that hogshead,' and as I did so, he said, 
' This is Abe Lincoln, and I will swear to it.' I ad- 
dressed the crowd for a moment, and the train started, 
and I got back to my seat. Then some of these men 
came in and rode to the next station and explained that 
they applied to the superintendent of the road to have 
the train stop five minutes, but their request was re- 
fused. They also explained that when Douglas came 
through some wag played a trick upon them. He got 
a man who was visiting in one of the neighboring 
towns, who bore a remarkable resemblance to Mr. 
Douglas, to personate him on the front platform of the 
train and bow and speak to the people, and so on. As 
the train moved out, Mr. Douglas was on the rear plat- 
form, and the mistake was discovered. So the novel 
way of vouching for my identity was explained." 

While Mr. Lincoln was telling this incident, I could 
see the faces of Mr. Stanton and General Halleck, and 
they seemed apparently very much annoyed that he 
should relax and waste his time, but I felt, as I left the 
place, that he used such occasions to relieve the tension 
of strain upon his mind. The next winter I was pres- 
ent at an interview which, I think, throws some light 
on Mr. Lincoln's way of getting relaxation from care. 
I stepped into the Provost Marshal's office at City 
Point to pick up my two messmates to go to dinner. 
Major Beckwith and my tentmate, Captain Scoville, 
were the Assistant Provost Marshals, and passed upon 
all passes and permits. The daily boat had arrived an 
hour before, and all passengers had to go to this office 
and have their passes vised or get new ones, to enable 
them to take the train to the front, some twelve miles, 
or to return from City Point. The passengers, offi- 



44 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

cers and men and civilians, had gotten through with 
their visit to the office and were probably getting aboard 
the train, which, however, would not leave for some 
time, but there sat in front of the railing in the office a 
very singular-looking Irishman, who was called up by 
Major Beckwith with, *' Now, I will wait upon you." 
The Irishman was dressed in corduroys, with hobnailed 
shoes, and in every way looked the fresh arrival from 
the Emerald Isle. He had a humorous, quizzical, 
ruddy face, and his eyes sparkled with active, vigor- 
ous mentality. He handed out a card, but held on to 
one corner of it. Major Beckwith explained that when 
he presented that card to get passes to the front, he had 
offered to give him a pass and take up the card, but the 
Irishman had said, " Don't you do that, sir, I 'm 
to kape that card." So Major Beckwith had said, 
" Take a seat and wait, there is plenty of time, and I 
will fix you out later." What I heard was, " Ye must 
send me to the front, to Thomas Francis Meagher's 
Brigade." The card read " Pass the bearer " (giving 
his name, which I forget) "to General Meagher's 
Brigade in the Army of the Potomac, and return to 
Washington, with free transportation. A. Lincoln. 
Washington, Dec. — , 1864." 

" All right," said Major Beckwith, " I will give you 
a pass and you keep the card, but I want you to tell 
me how you got it." 

The Irishman said, " I 'ad three sons in this coun- 
thry who went into th' army. One was killed. The 
two others sent me money to come over and visit them. 
They told me to come t' Washington and I could git a 
pass. I came t' Washington, but I could git no pass. 
I wint ivrywhere. I pushed me way into that old Turk 
in th' War Department, and I thought for a minnit he 



GETTYSBURG TO RICHMOND 45 

would put me in prison for gittin' into his room " 
(meaning Mr. Stanton), " but I stuck t' it and I hung 
around the White 'ouse. I went into the garden and 
talked with the gardener, who was a kind fellah, and 
told him me story. He said, ' You come to-morrow 
morning early, and I will put you at work here. When 
Mr. Lincoln walks in the garden, as he does every 
marnin', you can speak to him.' So in th' marnin' I 
wint there an' was a-fussin' wid some plants along th' 
walk as the gardener told me, an' when he was pritty 
well away from me, I saw th' master comin'. As he 
saw me, he stopped an' spoke. He said, ' New man 
here ? ' I said, ' I am helpin' the gardener a bit,' and 
he said, ' Are you a gardener? ' ' I 'm just come from 
Ireland,' said I. ' But are you a gardener? ' said he. 
' I am,' said I, but it was a dommed lie, f 'r I 'm a 
groom. Then he stopped there and talked t' me. I 
did n't tell 'im the whole story at onct, but I tried t' 
talk pleasant like, and he said, ' Come into the office 
and I will fix you out.' So the gardener told me what 
door to go in and what to tell 'im, an' I walked past 
those fellahs as if I owned the place, an' a little Dutch- 
man at a door said, ' You 're the man that Mr. Lin- 
coln said would come. You 're an Irishman, ain't 
you? ' I said, ' Yes, I am an' I 'm the man.' ' Walk 
right in,' sez he; so I wint in, and Mr. Lincoln said, 
' Have a seat, sir, and warm your feet by the fire.' He 
sat writin', an' a man was shovin' papers before him, an' 
he would sign them. He said, ' You must know lots 
of Irish stories,' an' I said, ' I know some,' an' he said, 
' All right, talk to me, talk to me.' Well, I cou'd 
always talk if I had n't much to say, but I kep' talkin' 
and talkin', an' a man came in t' see 'im on business, 
an' he said, * Never you mind, sit where you are,' an' 



46 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

he kep' me there. When dinner-time came, he told th' 
man to take me down an' see that I 'ad some dinner. 
Then I came back again. I stayed with 'im day afther 
day. You have Thanksgivin' in this counthry? I 
niver heard of that before. What do you think! I 
took my Thanksgivin' dinner wid th' Master ! Not at 
his table, but I took it there. I was given a dinner of 
turkey and ivrything, but there was no whiskey. Fi- 
nally he said, ' It is time for you to go to the boys and 
I will let you go,' but he had pumped ivry story out 
of me that I had iver heard." 

So the Irishman went to visit his two boys, one of 
whom was a Sergeant, and we all concluded that Mr. 
Lincoln had struck a rich vein which he would prob- 
ably apply in his story telling. 

Many years later, when Hay and Nicolay's " Life 
of Lincoln " was running in the " Century Magazine," 
I bought a magazine at a news-stand before taking a 
train one day, and seated in a chair in a drawing-room 
car I commenced to read the article. A portrait of 
Lincoln, one of the many that they printed, was at the 
head of the page, and I chanced to look at the gentle- 
man who sat in the chair next me, and he had the same 
magazine opened to the same page. We looked at each 
other and smiled. He was an elderly man and he in- 
quired, " Do you read all these articles ? " and I re- 
plied, " I have, so far, and feel a great interest in 
them." Whereupon he volunteered the following : 

" I saw Mr. Lincoln once before the war. I went to 
Springfield on a mission for a New York client, and 
was in the court room with a local attorney waiting 
to get an order signed in the matter of the collection 
of a debt, when I noticed a short stubby lawyer who 
was seated within the rail get up and step to the railing 



GETTYSBURG TO RICHMOND 47 

and lean over it to whisper to a client who was sitting 
close to the railing on the other side. The little fat law- 
yer's short coat drew np and showed that his trousers 
were much worn. Immediately a young lawyer seized 
a sheet of paper and wrote what I afterwards saw : 
* We, the undersigned, subscribe the sum set opposite 
our name to purchase a pair of trousers for Brother 

.' Several of the lawyers put down their names, 

3 cents, and 5 cents, and i cent. A tall man sat at a 
table examining a package of legal papers, and the 
paper was handed to him, and he turned around in his 
chair and looked at the lawyer leaning over the rail- 
ing, took a pen, and wrote, without a smile, ' I have no 
sympathy with the end in view. A. Lincoln.' 

" An old friend of mine living in Ohio told me, many 
years ago, that he went to Springfield before the war 
and spent a whole day with a lawyer at his office, going 
over papers, titles, and deeds connected with some 
property in which he was interested. During the fore- 
noon a tall man walked past them into the back office, 
saluting the lawyer as he passed. The examination 
of papers continued, and at dinner-time the lawyer 
asked my friend to go home to dinner with him, which 
he did. After their return he saw that the tall man 
was in the back room, eating a lunch of crackers and 
cheese from a paper. The lawyer stepped forward 
and said, * Why, Mr. Lincoln, I had forgotten your 
coming in here. I did n't remember that you were in 
the back room, or I would have asked you to go home 
to dinner with me. Folks away ? ' Mr. Lincoln looked 
very serious. ' No, folks are not away, I 'm away.' 
Afterwards the lawyer explained. ' This has hap- 
pened before. Sometimes Mr. Lincoln's home is not 
very agreeable, though he has never been known to 



48 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

speak of it, but I know that he takes it very much to 
heart and that it breaks him up when anything occurs. 
He has his own office near here with a partner and 
clerks, but he has come in to find a quiet place. 
I supposed when he went in that he had come 
to consult some law book that I had in the other 
room, but he has probably sat silently there all this 
time.' " 

I did not see Mr. Lincoln again to speak to him until 
just before the final army movements in March, '65, 
when he was at City Point with his wife and son Tad. I 
went into the Adjutant General's office one morning to 
see the Adjutant General about something, and seated 
over in the far corner of the room, which was quite a 
large one, by the fire, were Mr. Lincoln, General Grant, 
and General Meade. I said to Colonel Bowers, " I will 
come again," and started to back out. General Grant 
said, " Lieutenant, transact your business." This 
seemed to cause Mr. Lincoln to turn in his chair, and 
he rose and walked forward with his hand out and 
said, " I know this young man. He brought dispatches 
to me last year," and inquired about my health, and 
just then General Sheridan came in to join what seemed 
to be a consultation of war, and I withdrew. I next 
saw him walking up the streets of Richmond after its 
capture. He walked in the middle of the street accom- 
panied by Judge Campbell, who resigned from the 
United States Supreme Court to become Confederate 
Assistant Secretary of War, Commodore Porter, and 
some officers of his staff. No white people appeared 
upon the streets, but the sidewalks were quickly filled 
with colored people, whose exclamations were heart- 
felt and remarkable. I could hear such expressions as, 
" Bress God, I can see Mr. Lincoln," etc. They all 




W. M. Beckwith, Captain, Aide-de-Camp, 
Major, and Colonel 



GETTYSBURG TO RICHMOND 49 

seemed to know who he was. I think he remained in 
the city but a few hours, and he was assassinated within 
ten days of that date. 

I cannot well describe my own feelings and esti- 
mates of Mr. Lincoln. I was a boy only, earnest in the 
hope for success of the cause we were all engaged in, 
and felt at the time, from all that I heard and read and 
saw, that Mr. Lincoln was the man for the occasion. 
His simplicity and sincerity surely impressed every- 
one who came in contact with him. His kindness and 
consideration for others were also very apparent. I 
am sure that every soldier who saw him felt a renewed 
inspiration to do his best in his sphere, believing that 
Mr. Lincoln's wisdom, patriotism, and tact would do 
all that lay in the power of the President of the United 
States. I voted for him in 1864, my first vote, and I 
think I am more proud of that fact than of any other 
occurrence in my life. 

On one of the occasions when I was riding to camp, 
returning from Washington, Charles A. Dana, Assist- 
ant Secretary of War, rode with us, and we conversed 
about matters generally for several hours. He was at 
General Grant's headquarters and seemed to be a priv- 
ileged character and on the very best of terms with 
General Grant and all of his officers, although there 
were some newspaper hints that he was stationed there 
by the War Department as a spy upon Grant's move- 
ments. When we separated, after the ride mentioned, 
Mr. Dana said to me, " H at any future time I can be 
of any service to you whatever, don't hesitate to call 
upon me." More than twenty years later I was Gen- 
eral Manager of the Metropolitan Telephone Company 
at New York City, and one day the " New York Sun " 
contained a very violent attack upon the company in 



50 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

its editorial columns. I traced this and found it was 
because Mr. Dana, who was at his summer home on 
Long Island, could not get good telephone service from 
his office at New York. The editorial was written by 
him. I also found the reasons for the bad service, 
and wrote Mr. Dana, reminding him of the ride more 
than twenty years before, and of his permission to call 
upon him for any service in the future. I said to him, 
" You can be of service now if you will see that the 
' Sun ' treats our company with common fairness. 
We are endeavoring to give good telephone service and 
know that we are giving the best service possible under 
the circumstances, but when a call goes for you on 
Long Island, we connect the office with the lines of the 
New York and New Jersey Telephone Company at 
Brooklyn, which is as far as our jurisdiction extends, 
and I find that that company admits that they cannot 
give good telephone service in your neighborhood with 
the present lines; that they are willing and anxious 
to build new lines, and have tried for years to get the 
requisite permission, which has been withheld by the 
authorities in your neighborhood. If you, as an influ- 
■ ential citizen, can help them to get permission, they 
will build a line at once that will insure good service 
to your house. I told them they ought not to attempt 
to give any service when they knew it could not be 
satisfactory, and their General Manager told me that 
they had offered to discontinue the service to the sub- 
scribers in your neighborhood until such a time as 
they could build anew, but that the subscribers wished 
to keep it for what good they could get out of it. Your 
attack upon the company is general, and a reader would 
suppose that we were derelict in every respect; so I 
appeal to you." I also said, "If you will have tele- 



GETTYSBURG TO RICHMOND 51 

phone service in your residence in New York for the 
winter, I think that you will see that the service this 
company gives would be of great help to you." I re- 
ceived a very polite note at once from Mr. Dana. He 
said he was glad to hear from me, and that if his 
daughter, who was a good deal of a tyrant, would allow 
him to have a telephone when he returned to the city, 
he would be better able to judge of the service of the 
company which had been assailed. The " New York 
Sun," thereafter, treated our company more than fairly 
in discussions which arose. 

The end of the campaign of 1864 found the army 
on the James River with General Grant's headquarters 
at City Point and General Meade's headquarters about 
twelve miles westward in front of Petersburg. I had 
a building of rough lumber built quickly for a post- 
office at City Point, and in it quite a large business was 
transacted. General Butler commanded the Depart- 
ment of the James, with headquarters at Fortress Mon- 
roe and the Army of the James with headquarters near 
Bermuda Hundred, just north of City Point, across 
the Appomattox River. When General Grant came into 
that territory, General Butler raised the point that the 
autonomy of his command remained the same as be- 
fore, as he was a Department Commander. General 
Grant treated this matter with tact and patience, but 
had to have Butler removed later, and General Ord 
succeeded him. In making the mail arrangements the 
same mail agent that acted on the river steamer running 
to Washington which stopped at Fortress Monroe 
brought the mail for the Army of the James, and the 
steamer, after landing at City Point, went on to Ber- 
muda Hundred. I issued some orders that I suppose 
were reported to General Butler, regarding the mail 



52 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

service at Bermuda Hundred, and I received a message 
from his Provost Marshal, Colonel Cassel, telling me 
that if I landed at Bermuda Hundred or interfered 
with their mail arrangements there, he was instructed 
to arrest me. I reported the matter at once to General 
Grant, who said, " Never mind ; that matter is coming 
up in a larger way. Just ignore them and don't go 
there to General Butler's army." I mentioned the fact 
that I had received from the Post-Office Department 
a very large number of depredation complaints affect- 
ing the Army of the James, and that the Department 
had asked me to investigate them. General Grant said, 
" Suppose you send them to General Butler with a letter 
saying that you are unable to conduct the investiga- 
tion which the Post-Office Department has asked you 
to make, because of the message that your presence is 
not desired in his army." I did this, and the next day 
received the bag full of cases back at the hands of Cap- 
tain Manning, who delivered the verbal message that 
General Butler wished me to investigate them, and that 
any facilities that I might need in his army would be 
given me. The cases all pointed to the post-office at 
Bermuda Hundred as the point of trouble. Lieutenant 
Bullus and three clerks had charge of this office. It 
took but a day or two to focus the matter, and a search 
in the trunks and private effects of Lieutenant Bullus 
and the others disclosed many of the stolen articles 
reported in the cases, including several watches that 
soldiers had sent away to be repaired and returned, 
and which were fully described and identified. At my 
request Colonel Cassel arrested these men, and I put 
some others in the post-office. I wrote a letter to Gen- 
eral Butler, reporting all the facts, that day. He 
passed down the river to Fortress Monroe in his pri- 



GETTYSBURG TO RICHMOND 53 

vate steamer the next day and telegraphed me from 
Fortress Monroe about as follows : 

" I have read your report of the arrest of Lieutenant 
Bullus and the other clerks who have robbed the letters 
of their comrades. I will order a court-martial for 
their trial and if they are convicted, I propose to hang 
them. Benj. F. Butler." 

He ordered the court-martial, but was relieved him- 
self in a few days. The proceedings of the court-mar- 
tial, however, were approved by General Ord, his suc- 
cessor, and Lieutenant Bullus and the others were 
sentenced to hard labor at the military prison at Dry 
Tortugas, Florida. 

In June, 1864, the Seventy-second New York, to 
which I belonged, came from the front to City Point 
and embarked for Washington to be mustered out and 
go home, their three years' service having expired. I 
decided that I would like to go with them and perhaps 
return in some other capacity. I had not been home 
during the three years. I hurried over to General 
Grant's headquarters and found that he had just gone 
to the front; and I informed General Rawlins, the 
Chief of Staff, and the Adjutant General of my pur- 
pose, and placed a written recommendation with them 
for the appointment of William H. Proudfit, my Chief 
Assistant, to the position of Superintendent of Mails. 
Mr. Proudfit had a year longer to serve, and was a 
soldier of the One Hundred and Twelfth New York, 
from Jamestown, and I recommended that he be pro- 
moted to a commissioned officer and given the position 
that I held. General Rawlins thought this would be 
done, and I went to Washington with the other officers 
of the regiment. I went to the Treasury Department 
to settle my accounts, get a certificate of non-indebted- 



54 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

ness and my pay from the Paymaster, and intended to 
go on with my fellow officers that night by rail, five 
companies of the regiment being from Chautauqu'. 
County. Late in the afternoon I went to the Post- 
Office Department to bid officials that I knew good- 
bye, and was informed that the Postmaster General had 
a messenger hunting for me, and I was told to go into 
the First Assistant Postmaster General's office and I 
would find out about it. When I did, I was informed 
that General Grant had telegraphed the President re- 
questing my appointment as a Special Agent of the 
Post-Office Department, to return to him and continue 
in the position which I had filled while a detailed officer 
of the army, and that Mr. Lincoln had endorsed the 
back of the telegram, mentioning the importance of 
the mails to the soldiers and their families, and asking 
Postmaster General Blair to make the appointment. 
A commission as Special Agent had been made out, 
and on the information that I was in Washington, but 
about to depart with my regiment, a messenger had 
been hunting me. I accordingly returned at once to 
General Grant's headquarters, and continued in the 
service until the war closed. 

The day that Richmond was evacuated word came to 
City Point from General Weitzel, who commanded the 
troops on the north side of the James nearest to Rich- 
mond, that the city was evacuated and burning, and 
that he was pushing his troops forward to enter the 
city. General Grant was up at General Meade's head- 
quarters. I said to the Adjutant General that I would 
go up to Richmond at once and look after the Confed- 
erate post-office records and affairs, and he replied, 
" Go and make all arrangements, and perhaps General 
Grant will want to send some orders by you." I went 



Contract Office, 



G$?P.- 



■//... 



■.y 









ri^ 



^^y.^/X. 



y^,rXX. 






V^ >-' '. j<^^X X^y^ ^s^^J 



-v^ ^r> ^'^ . 






.-X 




^^.4^.^.^; 



^^^^65^fe--w 



^.^ J^.../x.y ^ v./,j^x.^,/:. iX,«j^ 



Letter conveying thanks of Post OiTice Department to Special Agent 
< Parlcer for promptness in taking possession of Post Office 
at RiclinicMid 



GETTYSBURG TO RICHMOND 55 

to the Quartermaster, who gave me a boat, and ordered 
my horse and an orderly. When ready to start, I went 
back to Colonel Bowers' office, and he gave me a dis- 
patch for General Weitzel and said that General Grant 
wanted I should go to Elizabeth Van Lew's house on 
Grace Street and see that she had protection and any- 
thing that she might need. Our boat was stopped by 
the gunboats eight miles from Richmond, the fear 
being entertained that the river was mined with tor- 
pedoes; so we landed at Akins Wharf and started 
over land for Richmond, As the roads were full of 
troops, Captain Penrose (who had joined me) and I 
took to the fields. We were well mounted, and our 
horses took the fences and ditches easily. When we 
arrived at Richmond, the lower part of the city was 
burning, and the first of our soldiers who had arrived 
were working hard in subduing the flames. I found 
General Weitzel at the State Capitol, and then went 
immediately to the city post-office, which was being 
ransacked by some of our soldiers. I placed a guard 
over the office, and put up a notice in the window that 
mail service would be resumed the next day and dis- 
patched to all points with which communication could 
be had. The next morning I had a force of detailed 
soldiers at work, and opened the post-office and sent 
a mail to City Point in the afternoon. About noon I 
rode to Church Hill and found Miss Van Lew's resi- 
dence, a fine place, her father, who had died within a 
few years, having been one of the old and wealthy mer- 
chants of Richmond. Miss Van Lew's mother came to 
the door and cautiously inquired who I was. When 
I told her, the door flew open, and the daughter. Miss 
Van Lew, who was about fifty years of age, welcomed 
me warmly. I told her what General Grant's instruc- 



56 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

tions were, and she said, " I want nothing now. I 
would scorn to have a guard now that my friends are 
here." She invited me to come to supper and to re- 
main that night, and I told her of my friend Captain 
Scoville, and she said, " Bring him also " ; so we re- 
turned there at supper-time, leaving our horses at a 
corral, and we were seated at the table with a number 
of gentlemen to whom we were introduced. One of 
them was the clerk of Libby Prison, named Ross, and 
all of the others occupied prominent positions in various 
departments of the Confederate Government. Mr. 
Ross sat next me and said : 

" You must think it a little strange to meet me here, 
but I don't dare be anywhere else. If I went on the 
streets of Richmond, perhaps some officer who had 
been a prisoner in Libby Prison might recognize me 
and put a stop to my career." 

" Would you be so unpopular as that with them? " 

" Oh, yes," he said, " I have cussed them up and 
down in the prison." 

Miss Van Lew then said, " Don't you believe all he 
says. I have had him in Libby Prison for years doing 
my bidding. These other gentlemen have been in affili- 
ation with me, and you probably know that I have been 
in communication with General Grant all the time." 

It was a fact that the house of Miss Van Lew had 
been the rendezvous in Richmond for our spies, and 
while we had been on the James River she maintained 
a farm just opposite City Point where information 
was sent ; and an officer of our Provost Marshal Gen- 
eral's Department visited this farm nightly, crossing 
the river, so that full information reached General 
Grant daily of all news that could be obtained in 
Richmond. 



GETTYSBURG TO RICHMOND 57 

Years after the war I met Captain Lownsbury, who 
had settled in Jamestown, New York, and conducted 
a wholesale grocery establishment. Lownsbury sought 
my acquaintance, when I visited there, because he had 
heard I was residing in Richmond, which I did, while 
United States Marshal, for nine years after the war. 
He asked me if I knew Ross, who had been clerk of 
Libby Prison. I told him I did very well, and that he 
was a commission merchant in Richmond. Captain 
Lownsbury said : 

" I was a prisoner in Libby, and Ross was the clerk 
who called the rolls and superintended the prison under 
Major Turner. He never called the rolls without 
swearing at us and abusing us and calling us Yankees, 
etc. We all hated him, and many a man said that the 
time might come when he could get even with the little 
scamp. Our attention had been frequently called to 
the fact that officers had been called out and never re- 
turned. We had no knowledge of what became of 
them, and one evening at roll call Ross struck me in 
the stomach and said, * You blue-bellied Yankee, come 
down to my office. I have a matter to settle with you.' 
We were in line at the roll call, and some others whis- 
pered, * Don't go; you don't have to,' but I followed 
Ross down to his office in the corner of the prison. 
There was no one in the office, but a guard stood in 
front of the door on the sidewalk. Ross pointed be- 
hind a counter, this office being a counting-room of the 
old Libby Tobacco Factory. I stepped behind the 
counter and found a Confederate uniform, and I lost 
no time in getting into it, although it was too small 
for me. Then I walked out the door. It was just 
after dark, and Ross and the sentry were walking down 
the sidewalk. I ran across the street to a vacant lot 



58 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

which had brush growing upon it. As I did so, a col- 
ored man stepped out and said, ' Come with me, sah, 
I know who you is,' and he took me to Miss Van Lew's 
house on Church Hill. Miss Van Lew told me the 
roads and where to take to the woods to escape the 
pickets and to go down the James River, and I could, 
perhaps, before morning reach a place of safety where 
I could escape to our troops. Now, I want to send 
Ross a box of fine cigars," and I took them to him at 
Richmond. 

When General Grant was inaugurated President, the 
post-office at Richmond had been remarkably well con- 
ducted for four years by Postmaster Alexander Sharp 
and Assistant Postmaster C. Jay French. Mr. French 
had had much experience before the war, and during 
the war he was in charge of the important post-office 
at Fortress Monroe and was in every respect a model 
official. When it became known that, as soon as Gen- 
eral Grant became President, Dr. Sharp would be ap- 
pointed United States Marshal for the District of 
Columbia, a petition was circulated in Richmond for 
the appointment of Mr. French as postmaster; and 
the patrons of the office signed with great unanimity, 
but General Grant desired to appoint Miss Van Lew, 
and arranged that Colonel French should be appointed 
Superintendent of the Railway Mail Service for the 
District of Ohio. Indiana, and Kentucky. Miss Van 
Lew's appointment w^as well received in Richmond, 
although it was well known that she had not only been 
a Union woman but had rendered service to the Union 
Cause. After she had been in office a few months, 
I, being in Washington, called upon President Grant, 
and he said : 

" You are just in time to give me some information. 




special Agent Parker and Captain C 1'^. Scovillc 



GETTYSBURG TO RICHMOND 59 

The Postmaster General has just been here and handed 
me a statement regarding Miss Van Lew's insubor- 
dination, and insists upon her removal. I would like 
to retain her, if possible, but it looks very discourag- 
ing. The Postmaster General says that she has 
changed the pay of clerks, not only without authority 
from the Department, but in face of positive orders 
not to do so, and in other respects has disobeyed the 
rules and orders of the Department, and that a Special 
Agent sent especially to investigate and report upon 
the matter was ordered out of the office by her and 
told to go about his business. I don't see how I can 
retain her in office if she is to behave that way. What 
do you think about it ? " 

I replied that I had heard that she had reduced the 
pay of the mailing clerks in the office, who were the 
most important clerks there, in order to give increased 
pay to some clerks appointed by her who were old 
friends and acquaintances and whose positions did not 
warrant the amount of compensation she fixed, but 
I had not heard about the matter otherwise, as I was 
no longer connected with the Post-Office Department 
(being then United States Marshal). The President 
said : 

" Can't you influence her to correct these matters ? " 
" No," I said, " I cannot influence her at all. She 
does not even speak to me when we meet She 
came to me some time ago and asked me to support 
her brother for the office of Auditor of the city, and I 
declined. The incumbent of the office, who desired re- 
election, was very capable and satisfactory, and the 
office is an important one. Her brother is not fit for 
that office or any similar position, and I told her so. 
She was very indignant and said, * If you are not my 



6o A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

brother's friend, you can't be my friend. I will never 
speak to you again,' and went away." 

" How do the public regard her administration of 
the office?" 

" She is giving eminent satisfaction. There is no 
complaint on the part of the public." 

" Well, that is much in her favor," said the Presi- 
dent, " if we can only make her behave herself toward 
the Department and its rules. I warned her when I 
saw her some time ago, and I can send for her again, 
but I am afraid she would continue the insubordina- 
tion. I think I will appoint you arbitrator in the case, 
and send for her and tell her that she must adjust all 
those matters of difference with the Post-Office De- 
partment according to your suggestions, and if she 
refuses to do it, I shall have to remove her, much as I 
would regret to do so." 

A few days later Miss Van Lew came to my office, 
bringing her pay rolls, and said : 

" General Grant insists that I must fix these pay 
rolls of clerks as you direct, and that if I won't do it, 
I must give up the post-office, which I don't want to 
do. It is a great humiliation to me to have to come 
to you with them, but you tell me what I must do and 
I will do it." 

So I looked over the new roll and the old one and 
told her: 

" Just put all of these clerks back as they were 
in respect to pay. Then I would suggest that you 
write the Postmaster General a letter saying that 
you have done so, and that you will be glad to receive 
any suggestions or instructions that he may make 
as to the conduct of the office. If you do that, I 
think you will have no further trouble in the office, 



GETTYSBURG TO RICHMOND 6i 

and you will relieve General Grant from much em- 
barrassment." 

" I will do it," she said, " I have to do it. No 
thanks to you. Good day." 

The mailing clerks who were reduced had been bor- 
rowed from post-offices at Northern cities when the 
post-office was re-established in '65, and were noted 
in the mail service as the very best clerks. After serv- 
ing awhile temporarily, they had liked Richmond well 
enough to take permanent appointment, but this re- 
duction of Miss Van Lew in pay was at so low an 
ebb that they would have had to to give up their 
positions. 

Ten or twelve years later, while I was Chief Post- 
Office Inspector, Postmaster General Gresham sent 
for me one day and said that he had received a letter 
from General Grant asking him to do what he could 
for Miss Van Lew, who was then in Washington; 
that she had held the post-office at Richmond for eight 
years while he was President, but had not been reap- 
pointed by President Hayes; that she had been well 
off financially then, but had sought to establish her 
brother in the business of tobacco manufacturing, and 
had invested her money with him and lost it, as he had 
failed in business, so that she was now in financial 
stress ; that she had been of great service to the Union 
cause during the war, and that I could tell him about 
her service, and that he hoped she might receive some 
appointment from which she could make a living. 
Judge Gresham added that he had sent for her and 
advised her to put in an application for a clerkship at 
the Appointment Office, which she had done, and that 
she had gone before the Examiner under the rules 
prevailing at that time and passed the examination 



62 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

with the highest rating. Now, the Third Assistant 
Postmaster General had a vacancy to fill in his office 
and had brought in the order for the appointment of 
a Committee of three, which would be headed by him- 
self, under the rules, to select from among the appli- 
cants who had passed the examinations a person to 
fill the vacancy. Judge Gresham said, " I struck off 
one of the names and inserted yours, and you must do 
what you can for Miss Van Lew." The Committee 
convened, and Judge Gresham came in and said, " I 
believe I am an c.v officio member of this Committee. 
What 's the status of the thing? " The Third Assist- 
ant, Mr. Hazen, explained that three applicants had 
passed the highest rating, and that as the position to 
be filled was in his office he supposed his recommend 
would prevail; that one of the applicants whom he 
had met and was sure would make a fine clerk, desired 
the appointment for permanent employment, and would 
probably rank among the very best of employees in 
the Department. I inquired what State he was from, 
it being well known that the Third Assistant, who was 
a Pennsylvanian, was in touch with Members of Con- 
gress from that State and was active in securing places 
for Pennsylvanians. 

He replied, " From Pennsylvania." 

" Well, that 's a good State to be from," said Judge 
Gresham. " Let me see the other names. Here is 
Miss Van Lew of Richmond. She has passed the 
examination, too." 

" Yes, but I don't want her," said Mr. Hazen. " She 
was postmistress at Richmond and was troublesome 
and hard to get along with. If I were to appoint her 
in my division, she would be quarreling with every- 
body." 



GETTYSBURG TO RICHMOND 6s 

" Well," I interrupted, " she rendered very impor- 
tant service during the war." 

" Oh, I know all about that," exclaimed Mr. Hazen. 
" Everybody has heard of that and would hear of it 
all the time if she were here. We are getting tired of 
that." 

" I don't think she would ever mention it herself 
unless asked," I said. " Perhaps her Chief of the 
Subdivision and fellow clerks are veterans or, at least, 
well-wishers of the Union, and they would be glad to 
aid her in every way and bear with her eccentricities. 
If she had been a soldier, she would be entitled to pref- 
erence under the law. Surely she rendered services 
that ought to put her on a par with the soldiers." 

" But I don't want her," insisted Mr. Hazen. 

" Well," said the Postmaster General, " I rather 
think that Miss Van Lew ought to be selected, and, as 
Chairman of the Committee, I will put the question to 
a vote." 

The other member of the Committee voted with us, 
and she was installed as a clerk. 

A prominent citizen of Richmond once said to me : 

" I suppose you folks think Betty Van Lew was 
a Union woman purely from conviction and high 
principles." 

" Certainly we do." 

" Well, that 's where you are mistaken. I have 
known her all her life, and her father was one of my 
best friends and one of the best men in Richmond, but 
it is sheer contrariness on her part. If she was to fall 
of¥ Mayo's bridge into the river and drown, her body 
would float up the rapids to Lynchburg instead of 
down the river to Norfolk. But she is one of us, and 
we are glad General Grant took care of her. It does 



64 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

him credit, and we like him pretty well, too. He 
treated General Lee and our soldiers with such deli- 
cate consideration, and he did n't come into Richmond 
himself with his bands playing, ' See! the Conquering 
Hero Comes.' " 

I think Miss Van Lew's financial affairs became 
more satisfactory from the advance in value of the 
real estate which she owned, but she held her clerk- 
ship until the Cleveland administration. 




CommanclLT William B. C'ushin<j 



D 



CHAPTER III 

WAR-TIME FRIENDS 

^URING the war I frequently saw and kept in 
touch with a boyhood friend, Commander Gush- 
ing, of Albemarle fame. At Fredonia, in the early 
fifties, when I was a boy of ten or twelve years of age, 
Cushing's mother, a widow, lived in the neighborhood 
and had four sons and a daughter. I think the eldest 
son, Milton B., was already away from home in Wash- 
ington, a clerk in the Navy Department, where a rela- 
tive, Rear Admiral Joseph Smith, Chief of the Bureau 
of Yards and Docks, father of Captain Joseph Smith, 
Jr., who commanded the Congress when she was sunk 
by the Merrimac, had given him a clerkship. The next 
son, Howard, went from home to Chicago about that 
time, leaving Alonzo and William, and a younger child, 
a sister, Mary. Mrs. Cushing taught a select school, 
and the family seemed in rather poor circumstances, 
but were surrounded by kind friends in Fredonia who 
were among the most influential people. William was 
the same age as myself, and we were fast friends and 
playmates, sitting together at the district school. He 
was very active, full of mischief and humor, but 
studious. He led and I followed, and we had many 
escapades. One I remember : 

We had committed some prank in the schoolroom 
that attracted the attention of the teacher, and he 
ordered us to remain after school, but we ran out, and 



66 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

the teacher quickly ordered some older boys to catch 
us and bring us back. We ran for the board fence, 
and by jumping upon it and striking on the breast, 
had a way of going over head first and landing on our 
feet. Gushing, however, was not satisfied to escape. 
The nearest boy was close upon us, and Gushing hesi- 
tated a moment so that he could kick him with both 
feet before going over, which, however, spoiled Gush- 
ing's fall and he fell upon his hands, breaking one 
arm. The arm swung limp and he \vas very pale, but 
we went on to Dr. White, a relative of his, who set it. 

Gushing was very pugnacious, good-natured gen- 
erally, but very quick to resent an insult, and he would 
fight any boy or man without the slightest hesitation. 
On one occasion in front of a grocery store, we came 
upon a man who had had some difficulties with Gush- 
ing and who turned upon us and said, " I 've got you 
now and I '11 give you a good spanking." Will jumped 
up on a raised platfonn in front of the store where 
there was a barrel containing axe helves, hoe handles, 
and other things of that sort, and seized an axe helve 
and struck the man a heavy blow on the side of the 
head, felling him to the ground. 

He was not a bully, but he was perfectly fearless, 
and yet had very 'few accidents, not as many as boys 
usually. His dash and audacity were coupled with 
such good judgment in his movements that he seldom 
broke or hurt anything or injured himself. 

My family moved away from Fredonia to a neigh- 
boring town, and I saw him only a few times when 
I was visiting there or he was visiting me, until about 
1858, when my family had returned to Fredonia. I 
was a student at the Academy, and Will was then a 
cadet at the Naval Academy at Annapolis. He came 



WAR-TIME FRIENDS 67 

home for a vacation, wearing a smart uniform and in 
every way creating a deep impression on his old ac- 
quaintances of both sexes. We were together much 
during the time that he was at home. We went to 
picnics and called upon the young ladies, and were in 
every way very pleasantly engaged. The night he was 
to return to the Naval Academy I drove him to Dun- 
kirk to catch a train that would pass about eleven 
o'clock. When we got to the depot at Dunkirk, and 
he had purchased his ticket and checked his trunk, we 
found the train was more than an hour late, so we 
sauntered about and went into a German saloon oppo- 
site. It was a chilly night and we sat near the fire 
until the saloon keeper said, " Veil, vy don't you boys 
buy somedings ? " Will straightened up with a brave 
air and said, " Let 's have a farewell drink." I had 
never drunk a drop of liquor, and I do not know that 
he ever had. He walked to the bar with the air of a 
toper and ordered two brandy cocktails, proposed our 
eternal friendship, and we drank them down. Then 
we sat down again. After a while the German said, 
" Veil, you boys don't spend much money to pay for 
dat fire." Will had already treated ; so I said, " Let 's 
have two more cocktails," and we drank to the health 
of our girls. Then we returned to the depot and found 
the train was still another hour late and people were 
scrubbing the floors. We went back to the saloon, 
received more hints from the German, and drank some 
more cocktails, which vile stuff went to my head and 
legs both and to Will's head. Then we went out. I 
was carrying the buggy whip, and we locked arms 
and walked about, but my legs were uncertain, and 
Will took the whip and lashed my legs some. I be- 
came indignant at that and refused to walk further, 



68 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

and managed to untie the horse and get in the wagon 
and drive off. I immediately fell into the bottom of 
the wagon and slept until I was awakened in the toll- 
gate by a teamster who wanted to come through. Both 
the horse and I were asleep. I straightened up and 
started on, and next time awoke at broad daylight. 
The horse was at the door of our barn. I was fear- 
fully sick, and my father reminded me, when he 
smelled the liquor, that several years before a noted 
temperance lecturer had stopped at our house and had 
left some pledges. Father insisted that I sign my 
name to everyone of them, and that was the scolding I 
received. Will wrote me from Annapolis that when 
he got on the train, to which he was helped by a rail- 
road man, his ticket was gone and he had an indis- 
tinct remembrance of two men who had probably taken 
that and his watch. He had no money to pay his 
fare, but the conductor of the Lake Shore Road be- 
lieved his story and took him on to Buffalo and intro- 
duced him to another conductor, and they put him 
clear through to Annapolis. He delayed, however, at 
New York until he could secure a friend to help him 
on, which caused him to arrive one day late, and he 
had, therefore, to get the matter overlooked. He sub- 
sequently returned to each of the conductors his fare 
from the first money that he received. 

After my arrival in Washington in '6i Will visited 
me and spent some time with me in camp, a couple of 
miles out of the city. He went in to Washington daily 
to look after some trouble about his service, which 
finally ended satisfactorily. From letters received 
from him and from what he told me during that visit 
and at other times, and from what I heard from naval 
officers who were associated with him, it can safely be 



WAR-TIME FRIENDS 69 

said that while he was proficient in study, and espe- 
cially in navigation, mathematics, fencing, and in fact 
all that was of value in the naval course of instruction, 
he was so full of irrepressible mischievous life and 
action that it was with great difficulty that he retained 
any position in the Naval Academy and afterwards, 
for a time, in the service. For instance. Captain 
Boggs, who commanded the training ship on which 
the midshipmen made their cruise abroad, told me 
that Will got a string of demerits for sheer deviltry, 
one case being his arranging a wire so that, after leav- 
ing his watch in the night on deck and going below, 
he astonished the officers and crew by a broadside fire 
which, upon investigation, was brought home to him 
easily enough. In that, as in other cases, he never 
denied or evaded the responsibility. But Captain 
Boggs brought him safely to port, and remained his 
warm friend through life. These demerit marks 
accumulated and resulted in Will's suspension or dis- 
missal, and he had come to Washington to try and get 
reinstated and assigned to duty. His relative. Rear 
Admiral Joseph Smith, was very severe in denouncing 
him and advising him not to go home and face his 
noble, struggling mother, but to enlist in the army and 
get killed as soon as possible. He even ordered him 
out of his presence and requested that he never again 
come to him. Fortunately, however, Will met Cap- 
tain Boggs, who was temporarily in Washington, who 
took him to Captain Fox, Assistant Secretary of the 
Navy, and warmly advocated Will's cause, declaring 
that the Commandant at Annapolis, Commodore 
Blake, was running out every boy of spirit and dash 
and favoring and retaining only those who were pe- 
dantic goody-goodies. Captain Fox became inter- 



70 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

ested, and at a time when he was Acting Secretary in 
the absence of Secretary Welles, he took Gushing with 
him to the White House and introduced him to Mr. 
Lincoln, saying something in his behalf. Will then 
pleaded his cause with Mr. Lincoln, and told him that 
if he would place him in active service he would not 
have any cause to regret doing so and that he would 
perform his duty with fidelity. Mr. Lincoln put his 
arm about the boy and told him that he would put him 
in service, and ever afterwards acted as though Gush- 
ing was a protege. 

From this time on I met W^ill occasionally. His 
service was brilliant, and he was placed in command 
of a gunboat before he was nineteen years of age and 
afterward commanded a large number of vessels at 
different times, and I think never had a serious mis- 
hap nor loss of but one, which he burned when it was 
aground in a river in North Garolina, where he suc- 
ceeded in destroying salt works and other valuable 
property of the Confederacy; and being unable to 
bring his own vessel away, escaped in a captured 
smaller vessel. He received the thanks of Congress. 
His manner remained the same during all of this time 
of adulation. The fact that Congress passed a vote 
of thanks did not disturb his equilibrium at all. Public 
demonstrations in New York and Boston, where the 
freedom of the city was bestowed upon him by a pub- 
lic meeting of the city government, did not seem to 
have any effect upon him. He was still of the same 
temperament, the light-hearted, mischievous boy, 
shrewd, self-reliant, and absolutely without fear in 
planning his various brilliant exploits. Officers who 
served under him have told me that when he suggested 
the destruction of the rebel ram Albemarle, and at 



WAR-TIME FRIENDS 71 

other times, those who knew him put absolute confi- 
dence in his plans and his leadership, while those who 
had not had an opportunity to learn his thoroughness 
of preparation, grasp of detail, and masterful resource- 
fulness in execution were distrustful and almost afraid 
to follow him. 

Intermixed with his brilliant exploits are many per- 
sonal exposures that were entirely unnecessary and 
the subject of fair criticism. They only showed a part 
of his character which seemed in his case, as in the 
character of John Paul Jones, a necessary part of the 
whole that made the brilliant naval hero, as, for in- 
stance, when on the blockade before Wilmington he 
made personal reconnoissance upon the river, examin- 
ing the defenses, and even attended church in Wil- 
mington, wearing a Confederate uniform, and wrote 
his name with the date in a prayer book in the church, 
to be found by others in a few days. He did not ask 
others to share such exposures, but they were ready to 
volunteer and begged the opportunity to accompany 
him. His reconnoissance showed that it would be pos- 
sible to make a dash into the camp of the defenses of 
Wilmington, and one evening he asked Commodore 
Porter, in command of the blockade, to come up to 
breakfast the next morning, and said he would go and 
bring off the Commandant of the defenses of Wil- 
mington to keep the Commodore company. Porter 
knew him thoroughly, and replied that if he violated 
orders by any foolhardy acts he might expect a quick 
court-martial. But all the same he came the next 
morning to Will's ship and breakfasted, not with the 
Commandant, but with the Confederate Engineer in 
charge of the construction of the defenses. Will had 
landed near the barracks and passed through the camp 



72 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY ' 

where twelve hundred soldiers were asleep and searched 
the house of the Commandant, but found only an 
officer who was ill but who escaped, and the Chief 
Engineer of the General Engineer Corps of the Confed- 
erate Government. He brought the Engineer away 
with him, and escaped through the camp which was 
turning out an alarm, and the Commandant and other 
officers of his staff were saved by the fact that they 
were in Wilmington attending a wedding. 

Early in his service Gushing was on duty in the 
lower James River, and was the ranking officer of two 
gunboats. He was directed to co-operate with Gen- 
eral Peck, the Commander of the Union forces, who 
confronted General Beauregard with a large Confed- 
erate force. General Peck was a very conservative 
old officer, and Gushing became impatient. He would 
go ashore, take batteries and make things quite lively, 
and he demanded that Peck should force Beauregard 
to action, and in other ways displeased General Peck. 
Finally, Gushing conceived the idea that Beauregard 
had escaped with his forces and joined General Lee, 
and he insisted that Peck should make a reconnois- 
sance and should pursue them. As General Peck did 
not act, Gushing took a howitzer and a detail of men 
and made a complete detour and found that Beaure- 
gard had departed, leaving a sham camp to deceive 
the Federal forces. Cushing's report to the Navy De- 
partment, when shown, was offensive to the War 
Department, and Secretary Stanton demanded that 
he should be called to account for his reflections upon 
General Peck, especially one calling General Peck an 
" old granny." Gushing was ordered to Washington 
to explain the matter to Mr. Lincoln as well as he 
could, and Mr. Lincoln reprimanded him severely for 



WAR-TIME FRIENDS 73 

calling an honorable officer of the army an " old 
granny "' and reflecting upon him as he did, but Gush- 
ing persisted. " Let me explain it fully," he said, 
" and I can prove that he is an old granny." Mr. 
Lincoln finally laughed and said, " You go back 
and tend to your business," and the matter was 
passed over without a court-martial. This information 
came to me from Gushing about the time of the 
incident. 

Gushing's command was changed quite often from 
one ship to another, and he served on both the Gharles- 
ton and Wilmington blockades at different times.- He 
captured a number of blockade runners, and received 
quite large sums as prize money. For the destruction 
of the Albemarle his prize money amounted, I think, 
to forty-odd thousand dollars. There was a point 
of law involved as to whether the ship destroyed 
should be inventoried with its armament and sup- 
plies, and the case was adjudicated in the courts 
at Washington. Galeb Gushing, a distant relative, vol- 
unteered to appear and conduct the case, which he 
won. 

My duty and position was such, being Superinten- 
dent of Mails for the Army of the Potomac, that I 
was in Washington often and was free to go and come 
as my duty required. I often met Gushing. On one 
occasion that I recall, when he had his ship in the Navy 
Yard for repairs, he undertook to make his home with 
his brother Milton in a boarding-house kept by two 
elderly ladies with whom his brother had boarded for 
many years. Gushing gave an organ-grinder some 
change at the door and asked him to play all the tunes 
that he had, and this offended the old ladies very 
much, and they told his brother Milton that it was 



74 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

objectionable, and that his brother Will must send 
the organ-grinder away. Milton asked Will to do 
so, and Will went out and learned from the organ- 
grinder that there were three more in town with their 
organs; so he engaged them all to come at 8.30 that 
evening. He was at the door when they arrived, and 
took them up into his brother's room and started them 
to playing. This resulted in an open rupture, but the 
next day before leaving the house Gushing practiced 
v/ith his revolver on some pigeons on the wall back of 
the house, alarming the old ladies very much. Look- 
ing down, he saw one of them raising a window on the 
floor below. She had in her hand a stick which she 
was to place under the window after it was raised. 
Gushing shot and hit the stick, knocking it out of her 
hand. He was not allowed in that house any more, 
and took up his quarters at a hotel. 

He had a negro servant who was actually born in 
Africa, and whom he had picked up a contraband, 
down in the Garolinas. He was a peculiar-looking 
black man with very long arms, was a good servant 
and very pious. On one occasion when I visited Gush- 
ing in his room, Jacob came for some purpose from 
the Navy Yard, where the ship was, and Gushing 
said: 

" Jacob, repeat after me these magic words, ' There 
was a man who lost his hat, but what to Hell did he 
care for that ? ' " 

" Gap'n, I kyant repeat dem words. Dem w^ords is 
sinful words. I kyant speak dem words." 

" Well, Jacob, I will change it a little for you. 
* There was a man who lost his hat, but what in the 
Devil did he care for that ? ' " 

" Gap'n, I kyant say dat word, neither." 



WAR-TIME FRIENDS 75 

"Well, stand up against that door. Hand me my 
sword first." 

Then Gushing, who was an expert swordsman, 
pierced the door within an inch of Jacob's bushy head. 
After doing this a few times, Jacob said, " Stop, 
Cap'n, an' I '11 say hit. I pray God not ter hold me 
'sponsible." 

Gushing then said, " Jacob, you need not say it." 

On another occasion I went to the Kirkwood House, 
where he was stopping, to dine with him. After din- 
ner we sat in the office by the window, and Jacob 
came to see if Gushing had any orders. Gushing 
said: 

" Jacob, I 'm afraid to go out. I 'm glad you have 
come, for you can defend me. You see those men on 
the other side of the street " (pointing across the street 
to a line of carriages drawn up at a stand designated 
by the city), " those men with whips?" 

"Yes, Gap'n." 

" Well, those men are waiting for me to come out 
of the door, when they will pounce on me. Now, you 
must go out with me when I go, and if any of them 
come at me you must protect me." 

" All right, Gap'n, I '11 do de bes' I can." 

Gushing went out of the door to the sidewalk, and 
stopped and looked towards the carriages. He had 
been a good customer for several days, and three or 
four of the cabmen rushed across, whips in hand, to 
get his orders. They had no sooner reached the side- 
walk than Jacob attacked them, knocking two of them 
over. Then Gushing ran Jacob back into the hotel 
and got him to a place of safety. 

At the time of one of the important elections Gush- 
ing went to Philadelphia to join his ship, which was 



76 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

at the Navy Yard and about to proceed to his station 
of Wihnington. On arrival at Philadelphia he regis- 
tered at the Continental Hotel. He was in uniform, 
and at that time the Democratic nevvrspapers were mak- 
ing very fierce attacks upon President Lincoln and de- 
claring that he was seeking to carry the election of 
the country by using soldiers to intimidate voters. 
While Cushing was writing his name on the register, 
a man at his elbow said to others in the crowded 
rotunda, " Here 's another one of Lincoln's hirelings 
come to intimidate us at the election." Cushing com- 
pleted his negotiations for a room, and then turned 
and used a small cane which he carried on the man 
who had made the insulting remarks, cutting his face 
quite severely. The people in the rotunda separated 
as if about to engage in a row, when the police entered 
and quelled the disturbance and arrested Cushing upon 
the complaint of the man whom he had struck. As 
many as fifteen or twenty wealthy citizens went along 
to the station house and gave bail for Cushing. He 
appeared in court the next morning and paid a fine. 
The second day after that Cushing's ship departed 
without him. Cushing planned to join it at Norfolk, 
and after timing the ride to the Southern station and 
having his belongings in a cab ready, he ran to the 
drugstore kept by the man who had insulted him, 
pulled him from behind the counter, and thrashed him 
severely. Then Cushing jumped into the cab and 
reached the station as the train was beginning to move, 
and the incident was considered closed. 

I visited him on board his ship more than once. He 
seemed a thorough disciplinarian, but I have been told, 
by officers who served with him, that he was popular. 

For a few hours one evening in Washington in 



WAR-TIME FRIENDS 77 

April, 1863, Gushing wore the uniform of the army 
instead of the navy. I came from General Hooker's 
headquarters to Washington, and the next day received 
a telegram from General Hooker asking me to bring 
back a new uniform coat which I would find at his 
tailor's. Mr. Lincoln was to visit the Army of the 
Potomac, which General Hooker then commanded, 
and a review was to be held and General Hooker 
wanted his best coat. I got the coat in a paper box 
and carried it to my room, intending to go back to the 
army in the morning. Gushing called there and opened 
the box and took out the coat and took off his own, 
saying, " I will see how the General's coat feels on 
me." Then he dared me to put on his coat, and we 
go to the theater, which we did. His coat was quite 
showy, but the Major General's coat with two stars 
looked overpowering on a young man of twenty. I 
am sure he attracted a great deal of attention. No 
doubt many people asked their neighbors if they knew 
who that young Major General was, but the provost 
officers did not disturb us, and a couple of days later 
at Falmouth General Hooker wore the coat at the 
great review of the Army of the Potomac as he sat 
beside President Lincoln. 

Li 1864 I received a letter from Gushing, dated 
New York, asking me if I could spare a few days to 
come on and stay with him ; that he wanted somebody 
he could talk to. I knew this meant something un- 
usual, and as I could get away at the time, I went at 
once. He was stopping at the Old United States 
Hotel, then kept near the Battery, and told me, in con- 
fidence, that he had come on there because his old 
friend, Captain Boggs. was on duty at the Brooklyn 
Navy Yard, and he wanted to have two steam launches 



78 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

built quickly and equipped according to his plans with 
torpedoes. He told me that the Confederate ram 
Albemarle, the most formidable craft constructed dur- 
ing the war by either the North or the South, had come 
out and destroyed several of our men-of-war and put 
back for some repairs to her machinery before making 
a cruise to our great Northern cities; that he had 
offered to destroy her, and had been given permission 
to make the attempt; that no one knew of his plans 
but Captain Boggs, and that the strain was getting so 
severe that he felt that he wanted some friend to talk 
to. I went over to the Navy Yard with him and went 
on a trial trip around the harbor in one of the launches 
with Captain Boggs and Cushing. 

We visited the theaters in the evening for amuse- 
ment. Cushing seemed determined, but showed the 
strain that was upon him. Walking down Broadway 
from Winter Garden Theater late at night, when the 
streets were deserted, we walked near to two of the 
type of firemen known in New York — men with red 
shirts, black trousers and patent leather boots, which 
was the uniform they wore at that time on the streets 
at all hours. The United States army and navy were 
unpopular in New York with many people, and our 
uniforms showed that we belonged to the service. 
There had been draft riots, and politics ran very high. 
These two men were very insulting and walked close 
to us and impeded our progress. I took Cushing's arm 
and tried to have him walk along without noticing 
them, but he turned, selected the biggest one, and told 
me to take the other. Although you would not have 
thought it to look at him, Cushing was very strong. 
He had his man hors de combat in a moment, and the 
other one only tried to pull him off from his friend. 



WAR-TIME FRIENDS 79 

I had no particular trouble. A policeman came run- 
ning, and I expected that we would surely be arrested, 
because I supposed the police and firemen were in close 
accord; but to my surprise the big fireman seemed 
to be apologetic and the other one had nothing to say 
and the policeman did not arrest us. 

Gushing did not appear to doubt the success of his 
enterprise, but seemed prepared for failure if it should 
come. His resolution was unflinching. Before leav- 
ing New York on his perilous mission, he made a hur- 
ried visit to his mother at Fredonia. After driving 
with her several miles into the country, he at length 
told her that he had undertaken to destroy the Albe- 
marle, and he explained to her his plans in detail, add- 
ing that he could not start upon the expedition without 
first coming and asking for her prayers. She ex- 
claimed, " Why could not someone else have been 
selected?" but quickly became reconciled and gave 
him her blessing and encouragement. Afterward she 
said that, although his plan seemed almost im- 
possible of execution, she knew that he would 
succeed. 

One of his launches was lost before reaching North 
Carolina, but with the remaining one, manned by thir- 
teen ofificers and men who had been selected from a 
host of volunteers, Gushing ascended the river to Ply- 
mouth on a very stormy dark night, October 27, 1864. 
The Confederates had placed a guard of twenty-five 
men on one of our gunboats which had been sunk by 
the Albemarle, but which remained somewhat out of 
water part way up the river. Gushing towed a cutter 
manned by more volunteers, and intended to capture 
this guard on his way, but he passed the partially 
submerged gunboat without being challenged, and 



8o A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

reached the vicinity of the Albemarle before he was 
discovered. He then sent the cutter with its officer 
and crew back, and they captured the guard on the 
gunboat and took them to our fleet. In the meanwhile 
the Confederates gave the alarm, opened fire from the 
vessel and the shore, and materially aided Cushing by 
lighting large fires on their banks. He found about 
thirty feet from the ironclad a boom of logs, placed 
there to gur.rd against just such an attack as he was 
about to make. He quickly turned the launch towards 
the opposite shore, and circled around, thus gaining 
headway, while his companions crowded into the stern 
and raised the bow out of water. Then, under full 
steam, the launch ran up onto the boom submerging 
it, and reached a position the right distance from the 
ironclad to enable Cushing to operate his torpedo spar, 
which he standing alone in the bow swung around and 
dropped so as to bring the torpedo beneath the over- 
hang of the ship. All of this time a constant fire came 
from the shore and the Albemarle, and Cushing had 
the back of his coat and the sole of one shoe shot away. 
After waiting until the torpedo had risen against the 
hull of the ironclad, he pulled the cord which exploded 
the torpedo. At the same moment one of the large 
guns of the ship but a few feet away was discharged. 
The force of the explosion of the torpedo raised the 
ship so that the charge from the gun passed over him. 
He directed his companions to save themselves. He 
quickly removed his sword, outer clothing and shoes, 
and sprang into the water. He swam several miles 
down the river and eluded in the darkness the numer- 
ous boats searching for him and his party. He came 
up with one of his brave men, who was exhausted, 
and undertook to assist him to the shore, but Cushing's 



WAR-TIME FRIENDS 8i 

own strength failed, and his companion sank from his 
grasp. With great difficulty Gushing reached the 
swampy shore and dragged himself back among the 
tangled briers and tall grass. Here he remained the 
rest of the night and all of the next day, a cold storm 
adding to his discomfort. He could see and hear 
searching parties pass near. A colored man came up 
the path within hearing, and Gushing took the risk 
of calling to him. Gushing's confidence was not mis- 
placed, and at his request this man went to Plymouth 
and on his return reported that the Albemarle was 
sunk. The next night Gushing made his way down 
the shore of the river until he found a boat moored 
at the bank. Getting in the boat, he lay on the bot- 
tom paddling a little with a broken oar and floating 
with the tide, until he came near one of our gunboats. 
He was observed by the Lookout, and a boat put off 
and brought him on board. As he lay there fainting, 
clad only in the tattered remains of his underclothing, 
caked with mud, torn by briers, his lips swollen and 
cracked, almost unrecognizable, the commanding officer 
bent over him and exclaimed. 

"My God, Gushing, is this you?" 

The faint reply came, " It is I." 

"Is it done?" 

" It is done." 

He was tenderly nursed back to life and strength, 
and the report of his achievement was quickly car- 
ried everywhere. Only one other, who eventually 
joined the fleets from the opposite shore, escaped death 
or capture. 

Honors of all kinds were rained upon Gushing. In 
accordance with the recommendation of the President, 
he received the thanks of Gongress, a recognition that 



82 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

has been conferred on but seven other naval heroes, 
and the Secretary of the Navy wrote him the following 
personal letter: 

Navy Department, Nov. 9, 1864. 

Sir, — Your report of October 30th has been received, 
announcing the destruction of the rebel ironclad steamer 
Albemarle, on the night of the 27th ultimo, at Plymouth, 
North Carolina. 

When last summer the department selected you for this 
important and perilous undertaking, and sent you to Rear 
Admiral Gregory at New York, to make the necessary 
preparations, it left the details to yourself to perfect. To 
you and your brave comrades, therefore, belongs the ex- 
clusive credit which attaches to this daring achievement. 
The destruction of so formidable a vessel, which had re- 
sisted the combined attack of a number of our steamers, 
is an important event touching our future naval and mili- 
tary operations. The judgment as well as the daring 
courage displayed would do honor to any officer, and re- 
dounds to the credit of one of twenty-one years of age. 

On four previous occasions the department has had the 
gratification of expressing its approbation of your conduct 
in the face of the enemy, and in each instance there was 
manifested by you the same heroic daring and innate love 
of perilous adventure ; a mind determined to succeed, and 
not to be deterred by any apprehensions of defeat. 

The department has presented your name to the Presi- 
dent for a vote of thanks, that you may be promoted one 
grade, and your comrades also shall receive recognition. 

It gives me pleasure to recall the assurance you gave me 
at the commencement of your active professional career 
that you would prove yourself worthy of the confidence 
reposed in you, and of the service to which you were ap- 
pointed. I trust you may be preserved through further 
trials, and it is for yourself to determine whether, after 



WAR-TIME FRIENDS 83 

entering upon so auspicious a career, you shall, by careful 

study and self-discipline, be prepared for a wider sphere 

of usefulness on the call of your country. 

Very respectfully, 

Gideon Welles, 

Secretary of the Navy. 
Lieutenant W. B. Gushing, 

U. S. N., Washington. 

At the time that Gushing was ordered to the Pacific 
coast with the Wyoming, I gave him a black and tan 
terrier which was unusually intelligent, and he took 
it with him and kept it ever afterward. He was very 
much attached to this dog, and they were constant 
companions. He wrote me one or two letters from the 
Pacific coast, and after his return gave me his journal 
to read, which I found most interesting. As usual, 
he found plenty of field for his activity, although the 
trip was supposed to be a peaceful one, with order to 
sail as much as possible and save coal. The first inci- 
dent of importance was his landing at Santiago de 
Guba and demanding that those that were left of the 
Ryan crew of the filibuster ship Virginius should not 
be executed. He did this without orders, and our State 
Department had to settle the matter with the Spanish 
Government, which was done satisfactorily, and Gush- 
ing, as in some other instances, was lightly repri- 
manded and his acts really approved. 

The Gommander of the Pacific squadron being dis- 
abled from illness, it was found that Gushing was the 
senior officer, and the command temporarily fell to 
him. He straightway furnished our diplomats with 
more work by interfering in Gorea with the French 
fieet and army of invasion. The English war-ships 
co-operated with him, and the ambitions of the French 



84 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

were frustrated, and Gushing, as usual, was " inquired 
of " about it. 

On his return he brought me some Japanese curi- 
osities and some cigars from Manila. He was much 
interested in Manila and the Philippine Islands, but 
did not foresee that another naval officer would achieve 
great fame at that place. 

Gushing was placed on shore duty as an executive 
officer of the Washington Navy Yard, which position 
he held until his death in 1874. I was living at Rich- 
mond, and did not see him for quite a time before his 
death. My remembrance is that he had an attack of 
brain fever. When convalescent, he saw in the paper 
a list with scare headlines, such as " Thieves! ", " De- 
faulters to the Government!!", etc. The Democratic 
Gongress had asked the Treasury Department for a 
complete list of all officers, civil and military, who 
were in arrears to the Government. This list was then 
given out for political effect, headed as above indi- 
cated, in the public press, and Gushing found among 
the number his brother. Paymaster Milton B. Gushing, 
indebted in $10,000. Gushing went at once to the 
Treasurer of the United States with the paper in his 
hand, said that he had a package in the Treasury con- 
taining United States bonds, and asked the Treasurer 
to send for it and take out $10,000 and cancel the in- 
debtedness at once. The Treasurer tried to calm him, 
and told him that probably it was a technical charge, 
and that he would send for the proper officer and in- 
quire. Gushing was very much excited, and said, 
" No brother of mine shall appear as a defaulter while 
I have the means to pay." An officer came and ex- 
plained that Paymaster Gushing had been the victim 
of a conspiracy; that he went with a ship to relieve a 



WAR-TIME FRIENDS 85 

man-of-war in the West Indies which had yellow fever 
aboard and had been ordered to the Newfoundland 
waters. The Paymaster of the other ship had died 
of the fever. His clerk turned over his trunk of funds 
and obtained Cushing's receipt for the alleged amount, 
which, after fumigation, was found to be $10,000 
more than the real amount. The clerk had embezzled 
the $10,000 and absconded, and Paymaster Gushing 
was technically a defaulter until Congress passed a bill 
relieving him of the charge. Commander Cushing 
refused to accept the explanation, was very much ex- 
cited, and demanded that the Treasurer should receive 
his $10,000. When the Treasurer refused, Cushing 
drew his revolver, was disarmed, and taken back to 
the hospital, where he suffered a relapse. With his 
devoted wife and his mother by his bedside, conscious- 
ness returned to him after long delirium. With his 
mother's hand in his, he repeated with her the Lord's 
Prayer, and as the last words were uttered his spirit 
passed on. 

An excellent portrait of the late Commander Cush- 
ing is hung in Bancroft Hall, the quarters of the 
midshipmen, at Annapolis, to which are appended the 
words of appreciation and commendation sent him by 
the Secretary of the Navy, and situated on the most 
commanding point of the Academy Cemetery over- 
looking the Severn River, the Academy grounds, and 
the Chesapeake beyond, and shaded by tall oaks, is 
the monument in his memory. It is of dressed granite 
in the general form of a sarcophagus. On top lie the 
cloak, sword, belt, and service cap. Sides and ends 
carry six wreaths of oak leaves in high relief. The 
right side of the support has the following bold 
lettering : 



86 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 



ALBEMARLE 
WILLIAM B. GUSHING 

Lower on the front side appears : 

WILLIAM B. GUSHING 
GOMMANDER, U. S. NAVY. 

On the left facing the bay is inscribed, 

FORT FISHER 

and on the face of the pedestal, 

Born Nov. 4th, 1842 
Died Dec. 17th, 1874 

Of the four brothers, Alonzo Gushing was ap- 
pointed to the United States Military Academy at the 
same time that William was appointed to the Naval 
Academy, Upon graduating with high honors in 
1 86 1, Alonzo was appointed a Lieutenant of Artillery, 
and served with distinction with the Army of the 
Potomac until the battle of Gettysburg, where he com- 
manded Battery A of Fourth United States Artillery 
stationed at the point where the full force of Pickett's 
charge was received. The terrific concentrated fire of 
Lee's artillery had disabled all but one of Gushing's 
guns. He had already received several wounds, two 
of them very serious in character, when, unable to 
stand upon his feet, lying upon the trunnions of his 
gun, he fired the final charge of grape and canister 
with Pickett's men upon him. At the same mo- 
ment he received a death-dealing bullet. A monu- 
ment marks the spot where he fell, and but a few 
feet in front of it another monument marks the spot 
where fell the Gon federate General Armistead, who 



WAR-TIME FRIENDS 87 

led Pickett's charge. Alonzo is buried at West Point, 
and the memory of his heroism rests securely 
among the priceless treasures of the United States 
Army. 

Milton took his brother's remains North from 
Gettysburg. Later he told me that when the mother 
heard the account of Alonzo's death as given by a 
sergeant who was with him, and who said that after 
two wounds had been received the surgeon insisted 
that Alonzo be taken to the rear where his wounds 
could be attended to, but he refused, saying that the 
battle would be gained or lost right then and there, the 
mother's eyes flashed as she said, "If he had left his 
post of duty at that critical moment, he would never 
have been son of mine." When William next saw 
President Lincoln after Alonzo's death, Mr. Lincoln 
asked if there was anything he could do that would 
please the mother. William replied that he had a 
brother, Howard Gushing, who was serving with a 
good record in an Illinois battery, and if the President 
would appoint him an officer in the regular artillery it 
would please his mother greatly. Howard was ap- 
pointed, and served as a lieutenant in the regular ar- 
tillery until after the close of the war, when he ex- 
changed into the regular cavalry and was killed in 
battle with the Apaches in Arizona and was buried at 
Tombstone. 

Milton, the remaining brother, who had long been 
a clerk in the Navy Department, was appointed Pay- 
master in the navy, and was finally retired from ill 
health. He died at Dunkirk, and is buried beside his 
mother at Fredonia. 

All of the time that I was at the headquarters of 
the Army of the Potomac and at General Grant's head- 



88 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

quarters of what was designated as the " Armies Oper- 
ating against Richmond," I messed with General M. R. 
Patrick and his staff. 

General Patrick was the Provost Marshal General 
of the army, and sacrificed himself to this service, 
which he did not like. His services as Provost Mar- 
shal General could not have been duplicated, but it was 
conceded by all who knew him that if he had been 
allowed to follow his own ambition he would have 
been a great division commander. His was a very 
interesting personality. He was a graduate of West 
Point, had served in the old army in Florida, through 
the Mexican War, and on the frontier until in the 50's, 
when he resigned with the rank of Major, and re- 
entered the service as a Brigadier General in 1861. 
In the Mexican War he at first commanded troops and 
then was made Commissary General of General Zach- 
ary Taylor's army, and achieved a very high reputa- 
tion in that capacity. He was a warm friend of Gen- 
eral Taylor, and one day, at dinner, he told of a call 
he made upon Taylor a short time after he was in- 
augurated President. When he entered the room, 
Taylor excused himself from all others and took 
Major Patrick into an inner room, where he threw his 
arm about his neck and said : 

" Deacon, they are killing me. I ought n't to have 
accepted the nomination. They besiege me all of the 
hours of the day and night for ofiice, office! office!! 
and they are insatiable. I have no adaptability for 
such work, as you know, and I can't stand it. They 
come to me without knowing what they want and with- 
out the slightest conception as to my power to grant 
their request, and they are impudent and importunate. 
A big man came in this morning and said, ' I was a 




Provost Marshal General M. R. Patrick 



WAR-TIME FRIENDS 89 

leading singer in your campaign, Old Zach, and I have 
come down here to get an office.' ' Well,' I said, * I 
am afraid there are many more desiring offices than 
there are offices to be given. What place do you 
want? ' ' Oh, I don't care. Any good place.' ' Well, 
what will you take and be satisfied?' 'I will take 
anything from a Cabinet office down to a pair of your 
old breeches, Old Zach.' " General Taylor did break 
down and die soon after. 

During the war in Mexico General Patrick estab- 
lished bakeries to make bread and he used Mexican 
flour, rations being based upon weight of a standard 
adopted for the United States army, but he found that 
the Mexican flour made more bread than American 
flour, and the consequence was that there was quite 
a saving which he kept in a fund. This fund he 
undertook to deposit to the credit of the United 
States, but the red tape requirements stood in the 
way; the Commissary General could not accept it, 
the appropriations had expended it, and the Treas- 
urer of the United States would only receive it as a 
deposit. Annually Congress was asked, when passing 
the appropriation bills, to include a line of legislation 
that would dispose of this fund, which was more 
than $50,000, but the law was never passed. When 
General Patrick resigned from the army, the Secretary 
of War designated another officer of the Commissary 
Department to whom General Patrick could transfer 
the fund. He said he heard no more about it until he 
was reappointed a Brigadier General in 1861, and then 
there came that fund plumped on to him again. No- 
body would take it, and it lay in the Treasury to his 
credit, but he succeeded, under the change in manner 
of doing business, in getting authorization from Con- 



90 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

gress to have it covered into the fund for the support 
of the Soldiers' Home. 

General Patrick joined a Presbyterian Church when 
very young, always remained a consistent member of 
that church, and his companions in the old army called 
him Deacon. One time and another, old army friends, 
including some who had been classmates, visited him 
and ate at our mess, and although they were all ad- 
vanced in years, they always called him Deacon, and in 
turn he called each of them by some nickname known 
in the early days. He had one friend who used to come 
occasionally who was an Inspector General of the army 
and who was a quizzical wag, but, apparently, a very 
dear friend of General Patrick's. This officer delighted 
in exposing old personalities and pranks at our dinner- 
table, and General Patrick bore it in good part. On 
one occasion this ofificer said : 

" Deacon, do you ever see So and So ? " 

" Oh, yes, I see him often." 

" Well, he is the same old scamp he was when he 
was a boy. I had a devil of a lot of trouble to get him 
out of a scrape. He was in command, temporarily, 
of a battery on the river, and I was there inspecting 
the post, and after we were all through our work and 
I had made up my report, he started in the way he used 
to. After a few drinks he wanted to break things. 
Don't you remember. Deacon ? " 

"Yes," said General Patrick, "he couldn't drink 
without trouble." 

" Well," continued General Patrick's friend, " it was 
bright moonlight, and he said, * Come on out. Let 's 
walk the ramparts a little before we go to bed.' So we 
walked around the ramparts, and he could hardly keep 
himself on the ground. Finally, he went to a fieldpiece, 



WAR-TIME FRIENDS 91 

a brass Napoleon that stood on the ramparts, and lifted 
it out of the carriage, carried it to the edge, and flung 
it over into the river, and then there v^as talk. I had 
made up my report and signed it, fortunately, or I 
would, in honor bound, have had to mention it, and I 
suppose he would have been court-martialed. The 
soldiers tried to get it, but they could n't, as it had sunk 
into the soft mud, I made arrangements in Baltimore 
for a diver, and they got grappling hooks on it and 
raised it. Otherwise he would have had to pay for it. 
That Hercules has always refused promotion to a Gen- 
eral's position, magnificent fellow that he is. I urged 
him and told him that he could control himself, but he 
said, ' You know I cannot do it. Once in a while I am 
liable to break loose, and if I was a General in com- 
mand of troops, I might get into serious trouble and 
do harm.' " 

General Patrick was given, when he re-entered the 
service, a splendid brigade of troops, the Twenty-first 
New York, the Ninety-third New York, the Ninety- 
fourth New York, the Eightieth New York, and a 
Pennsylvania regiment. I have been told by members 
of some of these regiments that when he assumed com- 
mand and commenced drilling them and enforcing 
proper discipline, he became very unpopular, but the 
brigade developed rapidly in the line of drilling and 
care of themselves and discipline generally. At the 
first battle of Bull Run the brigade under General Pat- 
rick kept together ; did not break and run, but covered 
the retreat, behaving with great gallantry, and receiv- 
ing commendation in all orders. Then the soldiers 
began to say that their General was the best in the 
whole army and the bravest man they had ever seen. 
The brigade idolized him. But when General McClel- 



92 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

Ian took command of the army he asked General Pat- 
rick to take the position of Provost Marshal General, 
and General Patrick declined. It was considered very- 
important, however, that his services be secured in that 
position, and he was urged on all sides and finally ac- 
cepted, taking his brigade along to serve as guards, as 
required in the Provost Marshal General's Department. 
He retained this office during the whole war, but on 
one occasion, in the w^inter of '6;^ and '64, just before 
General Grant came East, Patrick and all of his friends 
combined in a determined effort to get him into more 
active service with a command. General Meade finally 
consented that if a good man could be found for the 
position of Provost Marshal General General Patrick 
should have a division of troops. General Sedgwick, 
who wanted General Patrick in the Sixth Corps, im- 
mediately suggested to General Meade and General 
Patrick that a Major General in his Corps, who had 
been sent to him fresh from a State Senate and a mili- 
tia command, should be given the position of Provost 
Marshal General, in exchange for General Patrick as 
a Division Commander. It was all arranged. Then 
the volunteer Major General, who seemed highly 
pleased with the exchange, came to our headquarters 
to look the ground over, intending to come and take 
the position a couple of days later. We were camped 
near Brandy Station in Culpepper County, and Gen- 
eral Patrick's headquarters and camp were a little 
away from General Meade's and in an oak grove at 
the foot of a small hill on the top of which was a very 
attractive residence. This was the home of General 
Taliaferro, a Lieutenant-General in the Confederate 
army, who was away with his command. His family, 
however, were in the house, as were several other fami- 



WAR-TIME FRIENDS 93 

lies of the neighborhood, who had gathered themselves 
together when our army occupied that section. Gen- 
eral Patrick had served with General Taliaferro in the 
old army and knew him and his family intimately 
(they had been at two or three forts together) and 
perhaps had placed his camp where he could afford 
protection to his old friends. Several afternoons Gen- 
eral Patrick had attired himself in his best and, ac- 
companied by an aide, called upon General Taliaferro's 
family. In return Mrs. Taliaferro had sent some deli- 
cacies to him which he had served at the mess table. 
The day that the new Provost Marshal General elect 
came, he arrived just before dinner, a pompous and 
over-dressed man, with a staff appearing much as he 
did, and they were all invited by General Patrick to 
dinner. At the table the new General said : 

" Well, Patrick, you have about the plainest table 
I have seen in the army. No wine and no delicacies. 
I will bet that when I am here and issue the permits to 
all the sutlers and traders to bring in supplies, if you 
wull come and dine with me, you will find a good bottle 
of wine on the table." 

General Patrick's face fell, and the other conversa- 
tion at the dinner was ecjually inappropriate. As we 
went out from the mess tent, the new General looked 
up at the house near by, and, it being a pleasant sunny 
day, ladies were sitting on the porch. He immediately 
poked his hand into General Patrick's ribs and 
said: 

" You old fox ! I can see what you have struck your 
camp here for. Now, there 's a lot of nice-looking 
ladies up to that house. You have got to introduce me 
before you go. I '11 bet you know them." 

" Sir," said General Patrick, " you will never be 



94 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

Provost Marshal General of the Army of the Potomac. 
Good day." 

It was a sad disappointment to General Patrick and 
all of his friends, but he remained in the distasteful 
position uncomplainingly to the end of the war^ when 
he was appointed Governor of the new Soldiers' Home 
at Dayton, Ohio, and was the Governor of that model 
institution until his death. 

General Patrick was a man of very fine presence, and 
had a voice which it was said by old officers exceeded 
that of any other officer of the old army, except General 
Harney. He was a most dignified and polite gentle- 
man, but I recall a couple of instances where his temper 
manifested itself. Once, after a long ride in a very 
disagreeable snow-storm, camp was pitched and a fire 
quickly built. Then the men and officers set about 
arranging the camp and getting tents up. General 
Patrick, however, stood by the fire. The wind was 
very gusty, and there seemed only one place that he 
could find where the smoke of the fire did not blow in 
his direction. He stood with his back to the fire, when 
he felt someone crowding in behind him, almost shov- 
ing him off his feet. He turned and saw a large man 
who wore a cavalry overcoat that would conceal any 
mark of rank, as did General Patrick himself, and Gen- 
eral Patrick said to him, " Who are you, sir, that 
crowds between me and my fire? " The man said, " I 
am the Chief Veterinary Surgeon of the Army of the 
Potomac, I will let you know. Now, who the Hell are 
you?" In an instant the big man was sprawling in 
the snow, and the officers and men came running and 
rushed him away out of danger. General Patrick was 
a very powerful man. 

On another occasion he walked at City Point about 



WAR-TIME FRIENDS 95 

the docks where his men were on duty as guards at the 
warehouses and wharves. He always carried a riding- 
whip on such occasions, and did not usually show any 
mark of rank. There was a tug at the dock, and as 
he happened to look toward it he saw a lady come 
running around the pilot house with a Captain in uni- 
form trying to catch her. The lady appealed to him 
for protection, and dropped in a swoon upon the deck. 
General Patrick lost no time in reaching the side of the 
dock. The captain of the boat and the crew were 
ashore, and only the engineer and fireman aboard, and 
they were out of sight. General Patrick yelled to the 
officer, " Get off from that boat." The lady got up, 
and then he said to her, " What has happened ? " She 
commenced to weep and said : 

" I was put aboard this boat, sir, to go up the Appo- 
mattox to the hospital where my husband is lying 
wounded, and this officer came and talked to me and 
said insulting things. I appealed to him and told him 
that I was the wife of a brother officer, but he tried to 
put his amis about me, and I ran around the boat just 
as you came." 

" Get of¥ that boat ! " roared the General. The boat 
was so low that the upper deck was nearly on a level 
with the dock, and the officer said, " To Hell with you," 
when Patrick reached up and pulled him off the boat 
and called a Sergeant of the guard. The guard came 
running, and Patrick commanded : 

" First, cut off those shoulder straps from that 
scoundrel," and they did as ordered, holding the man 
still. " Now, what 's your name ? " 

" None of your business." 

" Sergeant, search his pockets. You will probably 
find papers and pass showing his name and regiment." 



96 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

They did, and found his leave of absence from which 
he was just returning. 

Patrick thundered, " Take him to the bull ring. Put 
him in the meanest place there is. I will prefer charges 
at once against him and see that he is dismissed from 
the army in disgrace." 

The Captain was carried ofif. Then Patrick sent a 
soldier for the captain of the boat and when he came, 
gave him his orders. 

" Captain, I have put this lady in your charge to 
go to the hospital, and I want you to see that she reaches 
there safely, and then you go ashore and accompany 
her to the hospital tent and help her to find her 
husband." 

A court-martial was ordered, and friends interfered 
for the Captain. The plea was that he had been on a 
leave of absence for the first time during the war, and 
when returning with another officer had spent two or 
three hours at City Point and the two had drank freely 
during the time. There were telegrams received from 
a Member of Congress in Washington also, and con- 
siderable effort was made to save the Captain, but a 
court-martial held a short trial and found him guilty 
of conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman, 
and recommended his dismissal from the service, and 
the proceedings were promptly approved. 

If General Patrick had been retained in command 
of troops, many of those who knew him thought he 
would have risen to high rank and occupied a promi- 
nent place in the history of the war. There were other 
cases of this kind. General Sheridan luckily escaped. 
He was a Captain and Quartermaster for a time after 
the war began, but getting a Colonelcy of a regiment 
he was placed in the line of action and was speedily 



WAR-TIME FRIENDS 97 

promoted. There is much unwritten history of this 
and other wars which covers the careers of men who 
served in subordinate capacities and were much more 
capable for high command than many of those who 
were more fortunate. 

All sorts of inventions and devices and schemes 
were tried upon the army. Combinations were made 
of men who would seek, with the aid of some political 
influence, to have something adopted that the army did 
not want, and sometimes the authorities were much 
embarrassed by the pressure from well-meaning Con- 
gressmen and Senators and others of influence, who 
would try to aid some constituent. 

A little man wearing a silk velvet coat and English 
riding-boots, and having in his baggage an English 
saddle and a peculiar bridle and bit, came to City Point 
in 1864, with letters from the War Department re- 
questing that he be given an opportunity to show his 
horse accouterments for cavalry service and his skill 
in horsemanship. This man was an English Jew who 
claimed to have been teacher of riding in an English 
Cavalry School, and who had a riding academy in New 
York City. The " New York Herald " contained a 
lengthy account of his proposed trip to the army, and 
said that he was going to become instructor in riding 
for the cavalry, and that his saddle and his bridle would 
be adopted, and so on. With the aid of some New 
York Congressman, he got so far as to have a letter 
written at the War Department authorizing him to visit 
the army and show what he had, under the direction of 
General Rufus Ingalls, the Quartermaster of General 
Grant's army. General Ingalls was a great executive 
quartermaster, an officer of the old army, very tactful, 
but with a well-developed humorous side to his nature, 



98 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

and he sized the professor of riding up and made all 
the necessary arrangements for a trial. Colonel 
Mason, of the Third United States Cavalry, was asked 
to furnish suitable saddle-horses, as desired by the 
riding-master, and word was passed about so that the 
morning of the trial there was a large audience of 
officers and soldiers to see the exhibition. The riding- 
master condescendingly explained the great merit of 
his system of riding and the faults of the cavalry saddle 
and cavalry riding generally, and the officers heard him 
seriously and awaited his demonstration. A gray- 
haired Sergeant came leading a good-looking bay 
horse, and the riding-master directed him to be saddled 
and bridled, and said to the officers, " I asked for a very 
spirited animal, not a quiet one," and the Sergeant 
said, " This one, sir, is very spirited, although a good 
duty animal, serving in the drills every day, but I think 
you will find him well gaited and full of spirit." The 
riding-master first explained the correct manner of 
mounting, but the horse was a little tall and he was 
very short, and he really made a very awkward mount. 
But he got in the saddle and trotted ofif around the 
large circle, rising so high that I heard soldiers say, 
" You could throw a cat between him and the saddle." 
He made the circle and came around, struck the horse 
lightly once or twice with his whip, and said, " The 
horse is very well gaited, a good cavalry horse, but he 
seems very quiet." He started again, and one of the 
officers said to the serious old gray-haired Sergeant, 
who had a number of enlistment marks on his sleeve, 
"Sergeant, how about that horse?" The Sergeant 
replied, " He is sizing him up, sir. He is all right. 
The new kind of bit surprises him a little, I guess." 
When he got about half-way around the circle the next 



WAR-TIME FRIENDS 99 

time, the horse evidently had sized him up, and pitched 
him over his head. Some of the officers and the Ser- 
geant ran over to see if he were hurt, but while the 
horse stood still the riding-master straightened up and 
said, *' He took me unawares ; he has been going so 
quiet. I will mount again " ; and he got in the saddle 
and started off, and the horse promptly gave him an- 
other trick of his. The riding-master got up the sec- 
ond time and said, " This is a tricky brute." The Lieu- 
tenant said, " I know that he is in the drills every day, 
sir. I saw him ridden by a soldier," and the Sergeant 
said, " He is one of our duty horses, sir." The riding- 
master mounted again, and then there was a complete 
circus. The horse, working up to the crucial point by 
intermediate tricks, finally pitched his man headlong 
and then stood demurely looking at him. The riding- 
master began to look around, and the officers affected 
sympathy and interest, but he did not mount the horse 
again. 

" That 's a mean devil," he said. " I never saw so 
mean a horse. I will try another one to-morrow or this 
evening." 

" Very well, sir," said the Sergeant. " Send him 
back and I will bring another one now, if you wish, or 
you may go and pick one out." 

" No. Let 's see you put a man on his back and let 
him ride him back." 

Saddle and bridle were taken off, leaving only the 
halter, and the Sergeant swung on to the horse's back, 
hit him with the end of the halter, and went galloping 
off to camp. 

Some of the officers were a little afraid that the man 
might get hurt and remonstrated, but Colonel Mason 
said, " No, no, he won't get hurt. That 's one of the 



loo A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

horses to try out recruits with. Every troop in the 
regular cavalry has one or two such horses that the old 
soldiers put the new recruits on. You can't break up 
the custom, either. It has existed as long as our cav- 
alry has lived, and can no more be broken up than 
cadets at West Point can be stopped from hazing the 
plebes." The riding-master took the boat back to 
Washington, and the v^'ar had to be carried on and con- 
cluded without the aid of his system. 

It seems to be the rule among mounted men to want 
to break in a recruit. Once, in Colorado, I rode up to 
a group of cowboys who were chafing the face of a big, 
overgrown youth of seventeen or eighteen, while a 
buckskin-colored horse stood near by, and one of them 
told me that the boy was from Scranton, Pennsylvania, 
and had come out West to be a cowboy, and that he 
had asked the boss he had met in town to let him go 
out and stay at the ranch and work for his board until 
he could get a job, " so this tenderfoot arrived here last 
evening, and, of course, we put him on old ' Buckskin ' 
this morning, and the old horse bucked, as usual, and 
threw him hard, and he struck on his shoulders and has 
gone off insensible." The cowboys seemed pretty thor- 
oughly frightened, but the young man recovered in a 
few minutes and wanted to try again, but they said, 
" No, you won't. You are initiated. You are all 
right now. We will give you a good horse." 

A fine-appearing medical officer came to City Point 
to inspect the hospital arrangements, the food fur- 
nished, and the sanitary arrangements. He talked very 
large about what he was going to accomplish. I do 
not know his rank, but the officers and Sergeants called 
him " Fresh." A few days after he arrived he went to 
Colonel Bowers, General Grant's Adjutant General, and 



WAR-TIME FRIENDS loi 

said that in riding about he had observed that all of 
the abandoned plantations, where the soldiers were 
camped, had ice ponds and ice cellars. These ice cel- 
lars, dug in dry ground on a knoll, were usually about 
twenty feet square and ten or twelve feet deep, and 
covered by a shingled roof with a door at the gable 
end, and in them the ice secured from the small fresh- 
water ponds kept well enough, although not more than 
two or three inches thick, so that the planters had ice 
during the summer. The doctor said, " We will fill 
those ice houses, and then next summer there will be 
quite a saving in using that ice instead of Northern 
ice." Of course the remark caused a smile among the 
officers who heard him, because they had no idea of 
spending the next summer at City Point. A vessel 
loaded with ice from Maine was anchored in the river, 
and the thick blocks of beautiful ice were taken for 
hospital use when required during the summer of 1864, 
and similar arrangements would have been made if 
the army had passed another summer there. The doc- 
tor asked Colonel Bowers to detail an officer to exam- 
ine the ponds and report upon what was necessary to 
secure the ice ; that he had noticed that the ponds were 
frozen over. It happened that my brother, a Captain 
in a regiment which was serving under the Provost 
Marshal General, was detailed to make this examina- 
tion. A few hours later he filed his report : that he had 
visited several of the ponds and that they were covered 
with ice, and that the necessary implements to gather 
the ice at that time would be the tin skimmers used in 
the dairies for skimming the cream from the pans of 
milk, and that rubber bags or water-tight barrels would 
be needed to carry the ice to the ice houses; that pos- 
sibly, at some future time, there might be ice that could 



I02 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

be sawed and gathered in blocks in the usual manner. 
The doctor abandoned the ice project and said that he 
should suppose that an officer who would make such 
a report as that, under orders, would be called to im- 
mediate account; but Colonel Bowers dryly remarked, 
" He has given us all the information there is to give, 
I guess," and the matter was dropped. 

My brother, from boyhood, was given to droll witti- 
cisms. The First Lieutenant of his company told me, 
years afterwards, " We tried to get ahead of your 
brother with jokes and wit, but never succeeded. 
When we were encamped in the suburbs of Richmond 
just after the surrender, and our regiment was serving 
as police, your brother was in charge of a district in the 
city and had an office there. He rode in and out on a 
fine thoroughbred filly that he had bought, but she 
floundered around with him considerable. One day 
a reporter of one of the newspapers that had started 
up, and which seemed inclined to publish little squibs 
reflecting on the behavior of the officers and soldiers 
of the army, came to camp asking for news, and I 
wrote out and gave him an item which appeared in his 
paper the next morning. I told the other officers, and 
the next evening when your brother came to camp and 
we were all sitting around, I asked him if he had seen 
the ' Richmond Whig ' of that day and he said he had 
not, so I took out the paper, and said, * Read that item. 
We all know who it is intended for, and we are very 
indignant. Read it aloud.' So your brother read, * We 
hear many complaints of carelessness and indifference 
for the safety of our citizens on the part of army offi- 
cers and soldiers with wagons and horses while on the 
streets. A Captain who rides in and out from Chim- 
borazo Hill has a very fractious horse, and as he goes 



WAR-TIME FRIENDS 103 

along the street he fairly frightens everyone who sees 
him, and knocks pedestrians to the right and left, even 
to the sidewalks. We do not know that there have been 
any fatalities, but some authority ought to be found 
who would suppress this menace to life and limb of 
men, women, and children on the streets.' Your 
brother read that item right through, aloud, and then 
he kept right on as though it appeared in the article. 
' This information is reliable, being furnished us by 
a red-headed Yankee Lieutenant of Irish consent.' 
Your brother read these added words without a smile 
and handed the paper back and said, ' I wonder who 
they mean ? ' but the officers all roared and called out 
to me to know whether I had made very much by my 
effort." He added, " Even on the firing line, in battle, 
your brother kept up his droll sayings and jokes, and 
everybody had to laugh, although in danger." 

There was a company of French Zouaves in one of 
the regiments of our brigade. These men were all 
young Frenchmen, enlisted in New York City, and 
wore the picturesque Zouave uniform — loose trou- 
sers of red broadcloth, white leggins, embroidered 
jacket, with heavy red sash about the waist, and turban 
for the head. 

One of these soldiers was detailed as clerk to Sur- 
geon Sims, Medical Director for Hooker's Division, 
and when I was detailed by General Hooker as Mail 
Agent for the Division in the spring of 1862, I joined 
the mess of the clerks at headquarters and so became 
acquainted with this French Zouave. He was a very 
competent clerk and a pleasant companion, but with a 
very excitable manner. He would shrug his shoulders 
and gesticulate with both hands and speak with intense 
emphasis when discussing any matter of interest, and 



104 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

especially when speaking of a certain officer of his 
company. He said that this officer, at the time the 
company was organized, represented that he had seen 
service as a sergeant in the French Army, and displayed 
his knowledge by drilling his comrades. It was after- 
wards learned that he had been a soldier but not a ser- 
geant. The company elected him, and he was duly 
commissioned. As soon as he was made an officer he 
treated the members of the company to insults and bru- 
tality, which made him cordially hated. The Zouave 
had accepted the detail as clerk, because he was afraid 
he might get into trouble from resenting the insults of 
this officer, and many of the soldiers of the company 
vowed they would kill him when in battle. 

Fifteen years after the war, I met my French ac- 
quaintance in the rotunda of the Astor House, New 
York, and after exchanging greetings I invited him to 
dine with me that evening. We had a pleasant visit, 
although he attracted the attention of everyone in the 
dining-room by his gestures and excited manner. Since 
the war he had been a bookkeeper for a prominent 
French importer. I asked him what became of the 
French officer he hated so violently. He said 
wildly : 

" I am so glad you asked me. I might have forgotten 
to tell you. Immediately after we were mustered out, 
we were told he went to France, wearing his handsome 
uniform and with considerable money he had saved. 
A couple of years later, one of the old company re- 
ported that he was back and at work at Delmonico's as 
a waiter, which had been his occupation before enlist- 
ing in the army. Eight of our old company got to- 
gether and laid plans for sweet revenge. One of us 
was a close friend of the head waiter at Delmonico's 




Robert Selkirk, Duryee's Zoua\-es, detailed as a mail agent 



WAR-TIME FRIENDS 105 

and agreed to make all necessary arrangements with 
him. Some of us had small incomes and large families, 
but we evened it all up and on the anniversary day of 
our enlistment we appeared at Delmonico's up- town 
restaurant. All wore evening dress (some hired or 
borrowed) and were seated for a fine dinner which 
cost, with the wine, $10 per plate. The head waiter 
carried out his part of the arrangement to the letter. 
He brought our late Captain to wait upon us, and told 
us afterward that the Captain tried to beg off when he 
saw who we were, but he held him to the rack, telling 
him he would discharge him and prevent his getting 
emplo3TTient elsewhere if he refused to wait upon 
guests to whom he was assigned. During the long 
dinner there were constant calls, ' Gargon ! gargon ! 
what a stupid waiter ! ', ' Who ever saw such a stupid 
waiter? ' ' His face does n't look stupid, he only looks 
bad ! ' Army times were talked over, and one inquired 
if anyone knew what became of that scoundrel. It 
was answered that he went to France as soon as out 
of the army. Another said, ' Good riddance. He never 
will come back here. They probably snapped him up 
before this and sent him to penal colony for crime com- 
mitted before he came over the first time.' We told 
incidents of his bullying and his cowardice and all the 
time kept him on the jump with calls, ' Gargon, gargon ! ' 
carefully timing our allusions to him so he would hear 
them. Some of us talked very large about our busi- 
ness, our homes, our carriages and coachmen. When 
we had finished dinner and paid the large bill with a 
flourish, someone asked, ' How much shall I give the 
waiter ? ' and another said, ' Not a cent, he is too bad 
to be tipped.' One said, ' They ought not to have such 
a stupid in this place. I think I '11 mention him to my 



io6 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

friend Charley Delmonico.' But another said, * Oh, 
don't do that. The poor devil may have deluded some 
girl into marrying him and has a family. Let him go. 
He will have trouble enough to make a decent living.' 
That dinner at Delmonico's was the greatest happiness 
of my life." 

Two mail agents, detailed soldiers, accompanied the 
mails from the army to Washington. One had charge 
of the general mails and was met at the boat by a four- 
horse team, which carried him and his load of mail to 
the post-office. The other one had only packages and 
dispatches from the headquarters of the army, and a 
small wagon, with one horse, met him and took him 
around to the War Department and the Quartermaster 
General's office, the Commissary General's office, the 
Medical Director's office, and other places. These head- 
quarters mail messengers were permitted to fetch and 
carry messages and letters and packages for the officers 
at headquarters to and from their families, many of 
whom were in Washington, or to do other errands of 
that sort. Some of them were entrusted by the Gen- 
erals and other officers with their pay accounts, which 
they collected of the Paymaster and then applied the 
money according to directions. One of these trusted 
men was Sergeant Jack McKinley, whom General Bu- 
ford of the cavalry asked me to have detailed. He said 
that McKinley had served under him in the West, and 
that he had kept him near him while he had been in 
higher command as a body orderly, and that I would 
find him a most trustworthy and quick-witted man in 
the position. '' He is one of the oldest soldiers on 
duty, and I want to have him placed in an easier 
berth." I put Jack at work, and he became very popu- 
lar. He was more than six feet tall, bony, angular 



WAR-TIME FRIENDS 107 

frame, a large head, very swarthy complexion, and 
had a saber-cut scar extending across his face, which 
had severed his nose and disfigured it and affected his 
voice. He wore the cavalry jacket with yellow trim- 
mings, the chevrons of a sergeant on his sleeve, and a 
number of enlistment marks, each representing five 
years of service in the regular army. He was always 
neat and tidy in his appearance, spoke with a decided 
brogue, and was kindly in his manner. 

Jack was present in the theater when President Lin- 
coln was assassinated, and he gave me the account as 
follows : " I sat where I could see Mr. Lincoln plainly, 
and had been looking at him. Just after I turned my 
head away, I heard the report of a pistol and the com- 
motion in the box and I looked and saw a man spring 
out from the box on to the stage, stumbling as he did 
so, brandishing a large knife, and calling out, * Sick, 
send for McGinnis.' " Jack scrambled forward, real- 
izing what had happened, but everyone sprang up, and 
there was such confusion that he was unable to get 
upon the stage. If he had succeeded, I think he would 
have followed Booth to his horse and wherever he 
went. I tried to persuade Jack that Booth did not say, 
" Sick, send for McGinnis," but said, " Sic semper 
tyrannis," but Jack persisted until he saw that he was 
being ridiculous. 

Jack's term of enlistment expired just as the war 
closed, and some time afterward when I was walkinsf 
on Pennsylvania Avenue past Gait's jewelry store. 
Jack came running out and asked me to step in and 
meet Mrs. McKinley. I went in, and he introduced 
me to a large woman, almost as tall as himself, dressed 
in brocade silk and presenting an appearance and char- 
acter that, added to her husband's, would furnish mate- 



io8 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

rial for a whole book of Dickens. Jack was radiant 
with smiles as he introduced me, and his wife said : 

" Oh, I know you and all about you. Jack has told 
me so much." 

" I did n't know that you were married. Jack," 
said I. 

" I never was until last week, but," and he stam- 
mered and blushed like a child, " she will have to tell 
you." 

His wife came to his rescue. " I have known Jack 
for a number of years. I keep a boarding-house and 
hotel by the wharf. My husband kept it until he died, 
and I have continued the business. Jack has always 
stopped with me, and my house is patronized by sol- 
diers and sailors and river men generally. Jack is the 
only man that I know, or have known since my hus- 
band's death long ago, that I would marry, and Jack, 
with his record of wounds and fighting in battles, 
could not get up courage to ask me to marry him, and 
I knew he wanted to, so I asked him, and we went to 
the priest. Jack has some savings, and I have a bit 
of property, and we will live happily, if I can only keep 
him from going back to the army. He promises me 
that he will not if he can help it, but the old soldiers 
are liable to enlist." 

" Oh, well," I said, " Jack, you are all settled and 
fixed now quietly, and you have seen enough of the 
war and of the world and of service; you won't go 
into the service again." 

Jack looked at me with a far-off look in his eyes. " I 
hope not, sir, but I can't tell. Sometime I may hear 
the call ' Boots and saddles/ and I am afraid I would 
have to go." 



TO THE MEMBERS OF THE VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE: , 

la view of the early adjournment of the State Legislature, and desiring a 
continuanec of the co-operation of its members with the Post Office Department, in the work of re-estab- 
lishing and rendering efficient the mail service throughout the State, this circular is issued. 

It is earnestly hoped that personal effort will be made by members, after their return to their re- 
spective districts, to procure suitable persons for contractors and postmasters in localities where mail facili- 
ties have not yet been extended. 

As in many cases persons are recommended who, after receiving appointments, cannot qualify ,_ thus 
causing inconvenience and delay to the communities as well as unnecessary labor and annoyance to the 
Department, the oath required by law is herewith appended : 

[ RequiroJ ly Act of Coogresa of July 2, 1562, and March 3, 1863.] 

I, , do swear that I will faithfully perform all the duties required of me, and abstain from 

everything forbidden by the laws in relation to the establishment of the Post Office and Post Roads within 
the United States ; and that I will honestly and truly account for and pay over any moneys belonging to 
the said United States which may come into my possession or control. And I do further solemnly swear that 
I have never voluntarily borne arms against the United States since I have been a citizen thereof; that I 
have voluntarily given no aid, countenance, counsel, or encouragement to persons engaged in armed hos- 
tility thereto ; that I have neither sought, nor accepted, nor attempted to exercise the functions of any 
office whatever, under. any authority, or pretended .authority, in hostility to the United States ; that I have 
not yielded a voluntary support to any pretended government, authority, power, or constitution within. the 
United States; hostile or inimical thereto. And I do further swear that, to the best of my knowledge and 
ability, I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or do- 
mestic ; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same ; that I take this obligation freely, without 
any mental reservation or purpose of evasion ; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of 
the office on which 1- am about to enter : So help me God. 

Any assistance or information that may be required will be cheerfully furnished upon application 
to the subscriber, at Richmond, Va. 

A^ery respectfully, 



Richmond, Va., Feb'y 23d, 1866. 



DAVID B. PARKER, 

Special Agent Post Office Department. 



Circular containing oalh reriuired of postmasters during 
Reconstruction 



CHAPTER IV 

RECONSTRUCTION OF THE POSTAL SERVICE IN 
VIRGINIA 

IN my capacity as a Special Agent of the Department, 
but with soldier clerks, I conducted the post-office 
at Richmond for a number of weeks, having also the 
post-offices at Petersburg, at Lynchburg, and at Dan- 
ville on my hands. There was a delay in deciding what 
authority the Government had to restore the functions 
of government in the Southern States; and as Presi- 
dent Johnson had views that were not acceptable to 
Congress, postmasters were not appointed for some 
time. The Postmaster General wrote me asking me to 
continue the work of reorganizing the mail service in 
Virginia, and I replied that I would do so. Dr. Alex. 
Sharp, whose wife was a sister of Mrs. Grant, was 
soon appointed postmaster, and I remained at Rich- 
mond and had my office with him. I was instructed to 
make temporary contracts, giving weekly mail service 
into every county-seat throughout the State as speed- 
ily as possible, and was given the limit of price for the 
service. I hurried about the State and secured con- 
tractors who would carry the mail once a week from 
the railroads where mail agents were running, to the 
county-seats. It was rather slow traveling, but I per- 
formed the work as fast as I could. A Legislature 
convened, which, however, was not permitted to con- 
tinue, and I used the members of the Legislature as 



no A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

far as possible in getting- assistance; but there was 
very much trouble in the matter, as no postmaster could 
be appointed anywhere without taking the oath that 
he had not assisted the Confederacy. With the assist- 
ance of leading citizens of every county, however, 
some aged or inefficient person would be found who 
could take the oath, while others aided him in the 
office. We got the mails running, and afterwards the 
Post-Office Department had regular lettings of con- 
tracts to replace the temporary ones, and, in most cases, 
to give more frequent service. 

General Grant came to Richmond a number of times 
with his wife and daughter Nellie to visit Dr. Sharp's 
family. He had much leisure, being Lieutenant Gen- 
eral, in command of the army, and seemed at a loss to 
spend his time, so made a number of extended visits 
to Richmond. He did not enter the city or pass through 
it at the close of the war, but appeared to enjoy coming 
there later. Once he proposed going out to Cold 
Harbor, and asked General Terry, the Department 
Commander, for a conveyance, and invited Dr. Sharp 
and me to go with him. He admired a saddle-horse I 
had, and said he would like to ride him, but as it was 
Sunday morning he guessed he would not ride him 
through the streets of the city; so I rode the horse to 
the outskirts, and then he mounted him and I got in 
the ambulance. He was very much interested in visit- 
ing the battlefield and explaining to us where the troops 
were stationed, until we came to a house where we 
halted, and he said, " I had my headquarters in that 
house, and such a division of troops were over there," 
as he would point, " and others there," and so on. A 
white-haired gentleman had come out from the house 
and overheard this conversation. 



POSTAL SERVICE IN VIRGINIA iii 

" General Grant," said he, " you did n't have your 
headquarters in my house. I recognize you, but you 
did n't have your headquarters here. Your head- 
quarters were a mile and a half from here. Perhaps 
you will remember an incident. Your line of troops 
were located about as you pointed, but my house was 
filled full of wounded by the surgeons, and my family 
were driven to the slave quarters in the rear. I felt 
very indignant at this, and inquired where your head- 
quarters were and went to them, and I begged that you 
would order your officers to vacate my residence. You 
patiently told me that I must put up with the incon- 
venience; that the importance of caring for wounded 
men must appeal to my manhood, even if they were 
not of my way of thinking, and that you would not 
order the house vacated, but probably that it would 
not be occupied very long. I will admit, General, that 
I felt a little ashamed of myself. If you will drive 
back on this road a little over a mile, you will find a 
house much resembling this where your headquarters 
were." 

"I remember your coming to me," replied General 
Grant, " and I have no doubt you are right." Then 
turning to us he added, " Gentlemen, we will go back 
to the city. Colonel Comstock is going to make sur- 
veys of all these battlefields. I think I would get no 
pleasure from undertaking to locate the exact where- 
abouts of troops now." This was not more than two 
or three years after the war. 

My saddle-horse that General Grant admired had a 
story. In 1861 Captain Beckwith, of northern New 
York, was appointed an aide-de-camp on the stafif of 
his Brigade Commander, General M. R. Patrick, and 
went with the other officers of the staff to the Quarter- 



112 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

master's at Washington to purchase horses. Under 
the regulations an officer entitled to be mounted could 
select and purchase a horse from the Government at 
one third more than the Government was at that time 
paying for cavalry horses. The officers all suited them- 
selves at the corral, where there were more than three 
thousand horses, except Captain Beckwith, who was 
very critical. He said that he would go away and come 
again another day, but as they neared the gates where 
a drove of horses were being inspected and received 
(each horse being branded with a hot iron " U. S." on 
his left shoulder), a roan colt burst away from the 
two men who had hold of his halter when the hot iron 
struck him, and trotted off among the horses in the 
corral. Captain Beckwith said to the corral master, 
" There is my horse. Have your men catch him quick, 
and I will give them a reward." The colt was caught 
and brought to the gates, and while Captain Beckwith 
was looking him over, the contractor, who had finished 
his delivery, came in and said, " What are you going 
to do with that colt?" Captain Beckwith said, "I 
expect to ride him." " Now, that is nothing to me. 
My drove of horses are all accepted. He comes up to 
the Government requirements of age and soundness 
and size, and has been passed, and I am ready to get 
my pay for him. The best horse-breeder in Wisconsin 
raised him, and he is a pure Morgan, but no one can 
handle him. The best horse-breaker I know undertook 
the job and is in the hospital. The owner told me to 
take him to the army, let him go in the artillery where 
he could be held down, and if he did not behave him- 
self, be killed. He did n't care what became of him, 
although he said he was the finest horse he had ever 
raised; so I tell you you better let him alone." But 



POSTAL SERVICE IN VIRGINIA 113 

Beckwith liked the horse's appearance, and the negro 
boy he had brought with him led the horse out of the 
gates, and they seemed to fall in love with each other, 
and the boy took him to camp. I became associated 
with Captain Beckwith later, as he followed General 
Patrick when he became Provost Marshal General of 
the Army of the Potomac and afterwards of General 
Grant's armies, and I coveted that horse. Captain Beck- 
with promised that I might have him when he went 
home. So " Dandy " came into my possession, a straw- 
berry roan of the greatest activity and the handsomest 
demeanor I have ever seen in a horse. No one had 
ever ridden him but Captain Beckwith, and although 
the horse was very fiery he was always manageable. 
He would spring in the air, but alight so easily that 
one's seat was not disturbed. The same colored boy 
took care of him during the war and as long as I owned 
him afterward. They were close friends. The horse 
was never struck a blow. 

After we got into Richmond, General Patrick re- 
mained there a few weeks as Provost Marshal General, 
and I, having messed with them two years or more, 
continued to live with General Patrick and his officers 
during that time. One day he invited us to ride with 
him. We rode up the river and returned by the outer 
James River and Kanawha Canal, where there was a 
path, but not the tow-path of the canal. We came to 
a waste gate, probably eighteen or twenty feet across, 
and at the top a timber, possibly two feet in width, 
spanned the waste gate, so that foot passengers could 
walk across. We rode single file and I was in the rear, 
when General Patrick called out, *' Bring Dandy here, 
let 's see if he won't cross this." As I rode forward, 
the staff officers whispered, '* For God's sake, don't 



114 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

go over that." General Patrick was magnificently 
mounted on a jet black horse he called " Snowball." 
When the Rebellion broke out, General Patrick was 
living in central New York, and the New York State 
Agricultural Society, of which he was President, sent 
to England and imported the finest English hunter they 
could get, and presented him to the General. This 
horse, " Snowball," refused to try to cross the timber. 
Beneath it was wet slimy planking, inclining toward 
the bank, and the bank contained large rocks and ran 
precipitously down to the James River fifty feet or 
more. I gave Dandy his head, and he jumped up on 
the timber and walked across it. General Patrick fol- 
lowed, and all the others came across safely. Dandy's 
intelligence seemed almost human. 

On my return to Richmond once after a few days' 
absence, the colored boy told me that a gentleman had 
been at the stable several times looking the horse over, 
and wanted to know when I would return and whether 
I would sell him. So I was not surprised when a man 
with silk velvet coat and diamonds came into my office 
and said, " You have a roan horse I would like to buy." 
I said, " Mr. Costello, you cannot buy him." He was 
Barnum's partner at that time, having united his 
" European Hippodrome " with Barnum's circus and 
menagerie, and they were spending a week in Rich- 
mond, as the people said, " taking all the money out of 
the city that the Yankees had left." He urged me to 
let him have the horse, and he said, " For thirty years 
I have had my eye out for the finest horses in Europe 
and America and have owned a great many good ones, 
but I have never seen the equal of that horse of yours 
in action, and have never seen a horse I liked so much. 
I want to ride him in the parade. I will pay you any 



POSTAL SERVICE IN VIRGINIA 115 

price that saddle-horses are ever sold for." Years 
afterward I sold the horse to a Philadelphia friend who 
pledged himself not to part with him without my ap- 
proval. A year later he wrote me that he wanted to 
sell him to a Mr. Bennett in Philadelphia who was a 
fine horseman and had a large number of horses, and 
I replied, " After you have owned him a year, as you 
have, you can select his owner." When the horse was 
twenty years old, I got permission from Mr. Bennett 
to go to his stables and see him, and when I told the 
stable superintendent that I had known the horse in 
the army, he said, " Then this cannot be the horse; he 
is only twelve years old," but I soon convinced him 
that he was the same horse. He did not look his age, 
and was being ridden every day at Fairmount Park, 
and I was told that he was the handsomest horse in 
Philadelphia. What convinced the stable superintend- 
ent that he was the horse I had in the army was my 
asking him how he got him shod. He looked at me 
and said, " I guess he is your horse. We have never 
found but one man that can shoe him, and he is way 
out in Germantown." The horse had a way of pulling 
his hind foot out of any blacksmith's grasp and then 
pushing the blacksmith, not gently, clear across the 
shop, but he always had his friends among blacksmiths, 
and would allow certain men to shoe him without any 
trouble. General Grant rode this horse out to Cold 
Harbor and back, and admired him greatly. 

In 1865 there was great disorder in Richmond. 
Immediately after the occupation of the city, the Con- 
federate armies were disbanding and the lawless ele- 
ment dominated without the restraint of the usual 
city police force. Provost Marshal General Patrick 
came to the city and brought the regiment that had 



ii6 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

served as guard at General Grant's headquarters and 
the depot of supphes, etc., and divided the city into dis- 
tricts, placing an officer in charge of each and stationing 
the soldiers so that they could perform patrol duty. 
General Patrick himself remained, however, but a 
couple of weeks, and Colonel Beckwith of his staff 
acted as Provost Marshal of the city. I occupied rooms 
with him in a private house. Robberies were frequent 
on the street at night, and it was hardly safe for a 
citizen to step out of his front door. One night a mes- 
senger came from the Monumental Hotel, which was 
only a square from our rooms, for Colonel Beckwith, 
and I accompanied him. In a room on the second 
floor of the hotel, which was occupied by two Pay- 
masters, Majors Stanton and Fithian, we found lying 
on a bed a fine-looking Confederate Major in uniform. 
The Paymasters' two clerks slept in the adjoining 
room, and they had an arrangement for constant watch 
by relieving each other. The night was hot and the 
windows were open, and just below was the roof of 
a porch, and we were told that one of the Paymasters 
(but we were never told which one) was sitting up, 
and saw two men creep along the porch and climb in 
the window. He called to them, but they kept on. 
Then he fired, striking the Major whom we saw on the 
bed. The other one escaped. An army doctor had 
arrived, but said that the young man had only a very 
short time to live, as the bullet had passed through his 
body. Upon being asked if he had any message that 
he wished to send anyone, he asked that his family in 
Alabama be notified, and said that he and his compan- 
ion, who was also a Confederate officer, planned to rob 
the Paymasters, who had large amounts of money in 
their custody, and that it did not occur to either of 



POSTAL SERVICE IN VIRGINIA 117 

them that they were doing anything wrong in attempt- 
ing to rob the Yankee Paymasters. They considered 
it an act of war. The young man died soon after, and 
we saw that he was decently buried and his family noti- 
fied of his death. I became very well acquainted with 
those two Paymasters afterwards, and continued my 
acquaintance with one of them until he died after he 
had reached the rank of Paymaster General of the 
United States Army. Knowing both men, I am quite 
sure I could guess which one fired the shot, but they 
were wise in leaving others in doubt as to which one 
was on guard, and they never even told their own 
families. 

V/ithin a week after the evacuation of Richmond, 
Colonel Beckwith received a telegram from the War 
Department to arrest Colonel Burton M. Harrison, 
private secretary of President Jeff Davis, who could 
be found at the house of John Freeland on Fifth 
Street. I accompanied Colonel Beckwith to the Free- 
land home, where he was answered by Mrs. Freeland 
from an upper window. He told her frankly his busi- 
ness, and she informed him that Colonel Harrison went 
to the country immediately after the evacuation, and 
that he was not in her house, where he had made his 
home, nor was he in rthe city of Richmond. She de- 
clined to say where he was. Colonel Beckwith ac- 
cepted her statement, and we withdrew very glad that 
we did not find Colonel Harrison. Twenty years later, 
while I was General Manager of the New York Tele- 
phone Company, Colonel Harrison, then a member of 
the New York City Bar, was one of the attorneys for 
the company. One evening I sat with him in his office 
while his clerks were preparing some legal papers for 
me to execute, and we fell to talking upon the war- 



ii8 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

times. I told Colonel Harrison that, while United 
States Marshal in Virginia, I had for an office the room 
in the United States building which I had been in- 
formed he occupied throughout the war, the adjoining 
room being the office of Mr. Davis. Then I told him 
of the incident of going with Colonel Beckwith, shortly 
after the surrender of Richmond, to arrest him at Mr. 
John Freeland's house. He said he had heard that a 
very polite Yankee officer called at the house, and to 
the surprise of Mrs. Freeland made no search of the 
premises ; that he was not there, however, and that he 
shortly went to New York City and had always re- 
mained a resident of that city. He also told me that 
during the entire war some gentlemen, whom he named, 
very prominent and influential residents of Richmond, 
were in the habit of meeting at each other's houses 
Saturday evenings, and that they had discussed the 
events of the struggle then going on and sometimes 
played a game of whist; that Mr. Davis encouraged 
his meeting these gentlemen, and as they were among 
the most prominent supporters of the Confederate 
cause, confidence was reposed in them and events freely 
discussed. The history of those meetings would be a 
graphic history of the course of the war with its tri- 
umphs and reverses. All these gentlemen, except 
Colonel Harrison, were householders and w^ilthy. At 
first quite elaborate refreshments were served with 
some good wine from the cellars, which each kept as 
was customary in the South in those days, but gradu- 
ally the refreshments became more plain and finally 
actually meager. Saturday evening, the day before 
the evacuation began, these gentlemen met at Mr. John 
Freeland's. One of them brought the last bottle of 
Madeira wine, and the others declared that they could 



POSTAL SERVICE IN VIRGINIA 119 

not have even done that much, but Mrs. Freeland pro- 
vided some biscuits. After sorrowfully admitting that 
their cause, which they all held so dear, was lost, and 
that the city would be evacuated within a few hours, 
they partook of the refreshments and drank the last 
bottle of wine, feeling that the next day or two might 
bring desolation and destruction upon their city, as 
well as the end of their struggle, which they had waged 
so long against the United States Government. Colonel 
Harrison said, " We were all very forlorn as we 
stretched our legs under Mr. Freeland's mahogany 
table." 

'* If you will go home with me," said I, " to Western 
New York, you may stretch your legs under the same 
table, as I purchased it at an auction sale of Mr. Free- 
land's effects in Richmond." 

" Well," commented the Colonel, " it is a small 
incident, but it is one of the little whirligig occur- 
rences that are frequent in the inner history of the 
times." 

A large number of ex-Confederates went to New 
York and established themselves in the professions and 
business. General Roger A. Pryor, who at the out- 
break of the war, while a Member of Congress, made 
some memorable speeches in support of secession, which 
made his name very famous at the time, has been a suc- 
cessful lawyer and judge in New York City, and is still 
alive. I saw him when he was a prisoner at City Point 
in 1864. and in 1865 oiice, when at Petersburg in the 
post-office, the postmaster called me to the window and 
said, " There 's the family of Roger A. Pryor." A 
horse and a mule with dilapidated harness, hitched to 
a common farm wagon, were standing in front of the 
post-office, and a lady was seated on a chair in the 



120 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

wagon, and some veiy active boys were climbing in 
and out and on to the backs of the animals. The post- 
master explained that General Pryor had gone to New 
York to establish himself as a lawyer, and his family 
were remaining just out of Petersburg until he could 
send for them. 

In May, 1867, Jeff Davis was arraigned in the United 
States Court at Richmond on an indictment for trea- 
son, which had been found two years before. He had 
been a prisoner all this time at Fortress Monroe, and 
he was brought to Richmond by General Burton, the 
Commandant at Fortress Monroe, and produced in the 
United States Court. All matters had probably been 
arranged that a bond should be given and no prosecu- 
tion occur; but all the participants among the lawyers 
seemed to be very thorough in the making of motions 
and arguing them and in every way making the pro- 
ceedings as impressive as possible. My cousin, Sam- 
uel Sinclair, publisher of the " New York Tribune," 
wrote me that Mr. Greeley was coming down to sign 
President Davis' bond, and felt apprehensive that he 
would be embarrassed by attentions from people there, 
and that possibly some disagreeable incidents might 
occur. Mr. Sinclair asked me to give Mr. Greeley my 
time the two days that he would be in Richmond, and 
said that Mr, Greeley especially desired to see the city 
and the surrounding country, including the rapids and 
water power of the James River. Mr. Greeley had 
never visited Richmond, except when he passed 
through before the war on his way to North Carolina 
to get married. I, accordingly, remained close to Mr. 
Greeley during his stay. I was standing near him 
when he signed Mr. Davis' bail bond. Commodore 
Cornelius Vanderbilt sent a lawyer with power of at- 



POSTAL SERVICE IN VIRGINIA 121 

torney to sign his name to the bond, and a noted abo- 
litionist, Gerrit Smith, and Mr. Greeley, with Mr. 
Welch of Philadelphia, signed the bond in person. I 
think some Virginians also affixed their signatures. 
The audience in the court room pressed forward and 
crowded around close to the table when the bond was 
signed. After signing, Mr. Greeley stepped back, and 
as he did so said to me in a low tone, " I expect to be 
abused for this, but it is for the country's good." His 
voice had a way of dropping from shrill falsetto to 
very loud, deep tones, and the words " country's 
good " were spoken so loud that the reporters, who 
were present from all parts of the country, caught 
them. Then we crowded back to the entrance of the 
room to leave and take a drive. As we pushed our 
way out, Mr. Greeley inadvertently went near Mr. 
Davis, who sat in one of the high seats devoted to the 
jurors. I was behind Mr. Greeley, and could see Mr. 
Davis plainly. When he saw Mr. Greeley passing so 
near him, he arose and started to put out his hand, 
quite likely to speak to Mr. Greeley and thank him for 
signing his bond. For the first time Mr. Greeley saw 
his proximity to Mr. Davis, and turned away abruptly. 
A shade passed over Mr. Davis' face and he resumed 
his seat. When we reached the head of the stairs, Mr. 
Greeley said to me, " I am not hob-nobbing with Jeff 
Davis, if I have signed his bond"; and I thought it 
was quite evident that Mr. Greeley was very sensitive 
to criticism, and was afraid that the correspondents 
would catoh whatever was said between him and Mr. 
Davis and that it might prove embarrassing. Charles 
O'Connor of New York was the leading counsel for 
Mr. Davis, and Richard H. Dana, United States At- 
torney at Boston, was recognized as the leading coun- 



122 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

sel for the Government. The United States Attorney 
for Virginia, Mr, Chandler, also appeared. In discuss- 
ing the questions that arose, Mr. O'Connor was very im- 
pressive. His white hair, soft complexion, and large, 
luminous black eyes made a very striking appearance. 
Mr. Dana, on the other hand, was not impressive. He 
was about medium height, with a full beard and a very 
well shaped head. Several years afterward, when I 
was United States Marshal for the District of Vir- 
ginia, a number of the most distinguished lawyers of 
the State sat in my office awaiting some hearing in 
the court-room, and they discussed the arraignment of 
Mr. Davis and especially the appearance of the two 
Northern lawyers. To my surprise, they all agreed 
that Mr. Dana's appearance was, in all respects, the 
most praiseworthy. They admired his diction, his 
forcible presentation of his points, and his highly cul- 
tivated manner. 

That night Gerrit Smith and Mr. Greeley spoke in 
the African Church, which was the largest auditorium 
in Richmond. The church was filled with representa- 
tive men. Mr. Smith spoke first. He was over six feet 
tall, with fine form, magnificent head, flowing white 
beard, and the finest oratorical delivery as to voice and 
cultivation that I had ever heard. I had never heard 
any of the four distinguished abolition agitators, but 
when I heard Mr. Smith, and remembered that I had 
read that he was the least effective of the four, I could 
easily realize the part that these men had borne in cre- 
ating the antislavery sentiment of the Northern States. 
Both addresses were well received. Mr. Greeley had 
a large number of square slips of paper, evidently torn 
from a scratch block three inches square, upon which 
he had penciled headings for use in his address. He 



POSTAL SERVICE IN VIRGINIA 123 

would shuffle the handful of papers over, and, selecting 
one, would speak for a few minutes on that particular 
branch of political and historical discussion. Someone 
opened the window behind the pulpit, and a gust of 
wind blew a part of his memoranda out over the heads 
of the audience, and someone rose to collect them and 
return them; but Mr. Greeley said, "Never mind, I 
have enough left here," and therefore a number of the 
audience carried away, and probably preserved, speci- 
mens of Mr. Greeley's chirography, which, however, 
there was no danger of their deciphering. 

Soon after Richmond was evacuated, I had a room 
on Franklin Street, near Seventh, and General Robert 
E. Lee stayed for a time at Dr. Cabell's house oppo- 
site. General Lee spent considerable time walking up 
and down the sidewalk in front of the house, but did 
not seem to leave the square. He was a fine-looking 
man, with full gray beard and very dignified bearing. 
He wore a very neat Confederate uniform of gray, 
probably the new one that he wore for the first time 
when he surrendered to General Grant. People passing 
treated him with deference, but I did not see him hold- 
ing conversation with anyone on the street. He went 
from there to Lexington, Virginia, where he was after- 
wards President of the College. 

The facilities for travel in Virginia were not what 
they are to-day. There were but few railroads, and 
these, with the exception of two short roads entering 
Richmond, operated only one passenger train a day. 
There was very little travel, very little money, and very 
little freight shipment. There were no Congressmen 
for several years, and therefore much more routine 
as to the selection of postmasters, and the mail ser- 
vice generally fell to the Special Agent of the Depart- 



124 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

ment on duty in the State. My duties carried me to all 
parts of the State in connection with the service, 
and there were depredation complaints to investigate, 
which resulted in some arrests and convictions. At 
one time I received orders to collect the amounts due 
the Government from the postmasters on the line of 
every railroad in the State, except one short road. 
Usually these collections are made by the contractor, 
which would be the railroad passing the post-office; 
but at the close of the war the Government turned over 
the locomotives and cars which they had to these 
Southern roads and gave them credit as to payment; 
and as the United States law forbade the payment of 
money to any person or corporation who was indebted 
to the Government, it was decided that these post- 
masters could not pay their money to the railroads, and 
that the Special Agents in the Southern States must 
collect the amounts. At first it seemed impossible to 
go from office to office, remaining a day at each one, 
to make the quarterly collections, but I devised a plan 
that made it easy by sending word ahead to the post- 
master to come to the station at a certain date and 
bring the exact amount which had been found due the 
Government. I carried a clerk with me and had only 
to fill in the amount in the duplicate receipts which I 
carried, and I did not delay trains but in a very few 
instances, which was not a matter of moment anyway, 
as those trains were run for the accommodation of the 
public, and did not mind the delay. The Special Agent 
in North Carolina declared that he could not collect 
the money in his State, and wrote his friend President 
Johnson, who sent his letter to the Postmaster General 
with an endorsement : " Don't call on my old friend to 
perform such service as this. He shows that it is im- 



POSTAL SERVICE IN VIRGINIA 125 

possible." Therefore I was asked to make the collec- 
tions in North Carolina also, and did so for two quar- 
ters. But I came back from traveling over that State 
with chills and fever firmly fixed upon me. A Rich- 
mond doctor gave me large doses of calomel and raised 
the doses of quinine to twenty-four grains a day, which 
were continued for a number of weeks. I had constant 
fever, and one day was unable to sit up at all. Then 
I left for the North and stayed at Long Branch, New 
Jersey, for three months, where I recovered my health 
completely without medical attendance. 

In the fall of 1867 ^ was asked by the Post-Office 
Department to go through the lower counties of West 
Virginia to report upon the needs of mail service, the 
Department having been unable to get anyone to make 
the trip. I accordingly went by rail to Covington, and 
then tried to hire a horse for the journey. This I was 
unable to do, and finally bought one of a young man 
who had been riding up in the mountains for his health. 
I went to Lewisburg and started from there into what 
was then a wilderness. I stayed at Lewisburg over 
night, and in the evening made my business known 
to the postmaster and others, all of whom tried to dis- 
suade me from attempting the journey, saying that the 
country was unsafe; that the feuds between Union 
men and Confederates were still alive and that people 
were being assassinated almost daily, and I ought not 
to take the risk of the journey in the disorganized con- 
dition of this sparsely settled country. I started out 
the next morning, and the sheriff of the county rode 
eight or ten miles with me. He was very urgent in 
trying to dissuade me from undertaking the trip, and 
said, " You are w^ell dressed, with a gold watch and 
fine horse, saddle and bridle, and you stand no chance 



126 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

whatever of riding to the Ohio River and back. Some 
man will pick you off with a squirrel rifle for plunder, 
and nothing will be thought of it." However, I had no 
trouble whatever on the journey, but there were many 
interesting incidents. The first night out I stayed at a 
valley farm that presented to me the best regulated 
family, I think, I have ever visited. The buildings 
were of logs but commodious; the valley was well 
fenced; there were large orchards, cribs of corn, good 
cattle, and a few horses, that the war had left. The 
farmer was a Scotchman, such as inhabit a large part 
of that section and the Shenandoah Valley, which they 
settled before the Revolutionary War. The present 
descendants retain all the hardy Scotch characteristics, 
and bear the names that were brought across the water. 
My hosts wove their own cloth, and had every comfort 
about them. They were Presbyterians, although there 
was no church in the section nearer than twenty miles ; 
but the head of the family read the Bible and had even- 
ing worship, and told me that the only time that he 
had ever been east of the mountains was when he went 
to Richmond as a delegate to the Presbyterian synod. 
This farm was almost the last abode of contentment 
and happiness that I saw on my trip. There were no 
wagon-roads in any of the counties that I rode through, 
but there were bridle-paths. There were small valleys 
that were cultivated, and occasionally rude mills where 
corn could be ground. There were no sawmills, whip 
saws being used for the little lumber required in the 
building of houses, and even the court-houses were 
built of logs. A man who joined me the second day 
inquired if I was from east of the mountains, and 
asked me how Sang was doing. I told him I had not 
heard, and he said, " Last year we got about twenty- 



POSTAL SERVICE IN VIRGINIA 127 

five green and eighty cents dried." I did not like to 
ask what Sang was, but I heard the word, without an 
opportunity to find out, from ahiiost every person I 
met. They all wanted to know the price of Sang. I 
said, " One man said that it was twenty-five green and 
eighty dried." I heard persons alluded to as Sang 
hunters, but I could not guess the meaning until at 
Oceana, where I stayed with the County Clerk over 
Sunday, when a man rode up in the morning with a 
led horse with bags upon his back, and said, " Excuse 
me for coming Sunday, but I thought I would bring 
in that Sang." I went with the County Clerk to his 
little store, and saw him weigh very carefully the con- 
tents of the bags; and it finally got through my head 
that it was ginseng, almost the only product that 
brought money into the country. There was an abun- 
dance of magnificent timber, which has since been util- 
ized, and coal abounds through all that section; so I 
suppose to-day it is very wealthy. 

On one occasion I stayed over night with a widow 
at a court-house town. She told me that her husband 
was a Union man, and that one night he was called to 
the gate by a pretended friend, and shot down before 
her eyes. I heard similar stories on both sides. When 
returning, I took dinner with a man who seemed above 
the average in education. He told me that he had 
once been a member of the Legislature, and that he 
was a Confederate. So, when he told me later that I 
must not try to stop at Richmond's Falls, but must 
make my way to Gwynn's White Sulphur Springs, 
even if it was very late, and gave the Richmonds a bad 
name, and said it would not be safe to stay there if 
I could, I knew well enough the reason he was preju- 
diced against the Richmonds. While riding on a path 



128 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

at the side of the mountains, I came to a large oak tree 
which had fallen across. I could not go up the side of 
the mountain nor down below, but had to go around, 
which I did, riding back a number of miles and taking 
another path. It made the ride much longer, so that 
I reached the hillside at Richmond's Falls on the New 
River just before dark. My horse was very tired; in 
fact, he was too large for the mountain travel. I rode 
down, determined that I would stay at that place in 
some way. A young man drove up with a pair of 
horses and a stone boat to get coal from a ledge which 
cropped out, and I stopped and spoke to him, and he 
asked me if I wanted to be ferried across the river. 
I told him no ; that my horse was tired out ; that that 
tree had made me turn back ; that I would have to stay 
there all night. 

" We don't keep anybody," said he. " You can't stay 
here." 

" A Yankee," said I, " does n't seem to stand much 
chance for hospitality in this section of the country." 

" Are you a Yankee? " 

" I was in the Northern army through the war, and 
am here on Government business now." 

" Well," he said, *' you put your horse in that stable 
and carry your saddle out and put it on the palings by 
the house, and wait there until I come." 

The house was a very long, low log structure, with 
an open space in the middle which was roofed and 
floored, and I took a seat there. Tubs of apples were 
standing around, and I took an apple to eat from one 
of the tubs. An elderly woman with a very strong face, 
a large frame, her coarse gray hair unkempt, her bare 
anns and her throat showing great strength, and with 
meal covering her dress more or less, showing that she 



POSTAL SERVICE IN VIRGINIA 129 

worked in the little mill by the falls, appeared and said, 
" What are you doing here? " 

" I stopped to stay all night." 

" You are not a-going to stay here all night. We 
don't keep anybody. We never have since the war. 
Now, get your horse and get along with you." 

" A young man," I remonstrated, " who was with a 
team up there at the edge of the mountains told me I 
could stay and told me to come here and wait for him." 

" Well, he don't run this place. He is my son. You 
can't stay here, and you better get out now before it 
gets dark." 

" I suppose you won't let me stay here," said I, " be- 
cause you see I am a Yankee." 

"You a Yankee?" 

" Yes, I am a Northern man ; was in the Northern 
army during the war and traveling now on Govern- 
ment business. I am a Government officer." 

" Not after moonshiners? " 

" No ; I am in the Post-Office Department." 

She looked at me a moment and then said, " Them 
apples you are eating ain't no good. Here, take some 
of these," and handed me some beautiful big ones, and 
I knew the trouble was over. I could hear chickens 
squawking as they were being killed, and every pro- 
vision was made for my entertainment. No one had 
shown up at the house at first, but they soon began to 
appear. A beautiful woman of twenty-five or thirty, 
the oldest daughter, a perfect specimen of a blond 
beauty, with two younger children, came out and stood 
about and sought to talk. After dark, about supper- 
time, the report of a gun was heard, and the young 
man I have spoken of took a gun and went out and 
fired. Then returning, he said, " Brother Jim is com- 



130 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

ing in, and he did n't know who was here." When Jim 
came in, he wore a fur cap, deerskin leggins and mocca- 
sins, had a hunting knife and a long rifle and a string 
of black squirrels. His face was anything but assur- 
ing. He looked hunted and scared, and he refused to 
sit down until he was told who I was. Before bedtime, 
which was at least midnight, I was told that the head 
of that family was a Union man, outspoken when the 
war broke out. One night two men came to be ferried 
across the river, and his wife heard the report of a gun 
on the other side and immediately put out with another 
boat. She caught the boat containing her husband, 
who had received a charge of buckshot in his breast, 
in time to save him from going over the Falls. He 
lived a day or two and described the men, who were 
unknown to him, and said that after they got out of 
the skiff one of them turned and said, " You are a 
Yankee, Lincoln man, are you?" and fired a charge 
of buckshot in his breast. This oldest son, Jim, I mis- 
trusted, had found out who those two men were after 
they returned from the Confederate service. Jim him- 
self had been a prisoner at Salisbury prison, but had 
escaped and returned. The oldest daughter rode to 
Salisbury, North Carolina, ostensibly with clothing 
for him for the winter, aided him to escape, and he 
rode the horse back and she walked the entire distance. 
I was told also that later Colonel Clarkson came with 
some Confederate cavalry and seized all the corn in 
the section, and waited at Richmond's Mills until the 
corn could be ground and then carried it away on his 
troopers' horses. They caught Jim, and a trooper, 
whose horse had died, took Jim's horse and Jim on 
behind him when they left. Jim's sister wept and cried 
a great deal, and succeeded in passing a knife to him 



POSTAL SERVICE IN VIRGINIA 131 

and also in holding the man back until he was the last 
one to start up the mountain path, which was very 
narrow. Before they got to a place where the horse- 
men could turn their horses, Jim thrust the knife into 
the trooper and jumped off the horse and escaped, and 
was never again recaptured. They showed me the 
grave of that trooper, and I think that Jim probably 
followed a lawless life afterwards. 

I also received a number of complaints regarding 
the mail service on a long route running from Abing- 
ton, Virginia, through the Cumberland Gap into Ken- 
tucky, and I decided to go over it. I wrote the post- 
master at Abington, whom I knew, and who had made 
some of the complaints, to get a good saddle-horse and 
have it ready on the arrival of my train, but not to let 
anyone know who I was or my mission, and that I 
would ride over the route and accompany the mail 
carriers, the mail being carried over the entire route 
on horseback. When I saw the postmaster, he said, 
" I have not been able to get you a horse fit to ride, 
but a colored blacksmith had an old thoroughbred mare 
running on the Common and he has taken her up and 
shod her and got her ready. You can ride out a ways 
on the route and perhaps secure a horse. There is no 
livery stable here, and no horse that I can get. The 
old mare has been given away a number of times, but 
they say she used to be a good saddler." I went to the 
blacksmith and found the mare hitched up, with an old 
army saddle on her that had been out in the weather, 
and the rawhide was cracked and seamed and dried and 
about as hard to sit upon as scraps of sheet iron. I 
trimmed the rawhide down with my knife as well as I 
could, tied my hand-bag to the saddle, and started out 
on the road. The little old mare went off at an easy 



132 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

amble, and we soon became fast friends. After a while 
the mail carrier overtook me, and I made his acquaint- 
ance, and told him I was going out to Jonesville and 
Estillville on business, and would like to ride in his 
company. He had relays of horses and changed fre- 
quently, carrying quite a heavy bag of mail. The car- 
riers were light, young boys of sixteen years of age, as 
required by law, and each one rode a day, stopped over 
night, and then back over his trip the next day. I 
stayed where they stayed, and attended carefully, in 
person, to feeding the old mare liberally with grain. 
She carried me over the entire distance easily. She 
had a gait good for five miles an hour, and did not 
seem to tire. I observed the manner of handling the 
mails throughout the entire ride, and then came back 
more leisurely and stopped at the towns and interviewed 
the postmasters. My trip resulted in some changes in 
the route and the discharge of some of the mail car- 
riers. The little old mare got real frisky, and just as 
we entered Abington on the return, and I was riding 
with the mail carrier and we were talking earnestly, 
she made a spring, whirled and started back, as I 
thought intending to go over the whole road and get 
grain and hay again, but I succeeded in stopping her 
and bringing her back where the mail carrier was, and 
we found a snake standing up in the road, swaying its 
body back and forth. I gave the carrier charge of my 
mare and got a pole from the fence and killed the 
snake, which was called an adder, and hung it on the 
fence. I was told that the adders in that section were 
very venomous. Then we rode into Abington, the 
old mare prancing like a colt. The blacksmith said that 
she was certainly over thirty years old ; that a Confed- 
erate soldier, who had ridden her in the cavalry during 



POSTAL SERVICE IN VIRGINIA 133 

the war, disposed of her there, and she had been given 
away three different times, it not being thought that 
she would hve through the winter. She was really so 
frisky that it was almost impossible to keep my seat, 
and I was reminded of the aged Virginia colored 
woman who appeared before the preacher to be mar- 
ried for the sixth time. The preacher said : 

" Hannah, how old does a woman have to be to stop 
marrying husbands ? " 

" Dunno, honey," she replied, " you '11 have t' ask 
somebody older 'n I is." 

I also passed through portions of East Tennessee a 
number of times on post-office business and saw some- 
thing of the people who had lived through the great 
struggle, where the secession and Union element had 
been at war both openly and secretly. I was at Knox- 
ville on business when Colonel Shelby was placed upon 
trial for treason. He had commanded Confederate 
troops in that section at some time during the war, 
and his trial had been postponed after indictment until 
such a time as it was thought safe to proceed with it. 
There was much excitement, but no disturbance of any 
kind. Colonel Shelby was acquitted, but he sought to 
call the prosecuting attorney, a Colonel Camp, to ac- 
count for words used during the trial, and was killed 
by him. 

The early history of this part of Tennessee, which 
was first a part of North Carolina, and whose inhabit- 
ants sought to create a separate State called Franklin, 
is very interesting, and clearly shows the foundation 
and growth of the character with which the East Ten- 
neseean is endowed. Love of adventure seemed to per- 
vade every individual. I stayed over night once at the 
house of a preacher named Hatcher, who lived near the 



134 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

point where Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia meet. 
Elder Hatcher was very noted as a preacher, and run- 
away couples from Virginia and Tennessee made his 
house their Gretna Green. The old Elder and his wife 
told me many incidents while we sat by their fire in 
the evening. Mr. Hatcher said that within a short time 
a young couple, with some friends, had ridden to his 
house from the Tennessee side pursued by a party of 
relatives of the bride. A heavy shower set in, and the 
only shelter on the Virginia side of his house was a 
corn crib, which he showed me, and they all climbed 
into that, and he married the couple in the corn crib, 
in the State of Virginia. Before long the pursuing 
party arrived, and he and his wife worked upon them 
to secure reconciliation. At this point the old lady 
broke in and said : 

" Oh, Law, it 's all humbug. These young folks in 
Tennessee and Virginia always did run away to get 
married." 

" Now," he interrupted, " don't you tell too much." 

" I am going to tell it all," said she. " They even 
set up the job to have them run away, and a number 
of them, sometimes her father, go riding after them 
carr^nng a gun on their shoulder. Why, the average 
girl in this section would think she was n't properly 
married if it was n't a runaway match ; and if they ran 
away and were not pursued by a good party, all the 
relatives would say it was a good riddance and nobody 
cared about them. So from all around they turn out 
and run their horses after them. Old man, you know 
how you and I got married? " 

" Well," he admitted, " it is a good deal as she says, 
but the illusion keeps up, and the young people court in 
secret and then run off to get married just as they 



POSTAL SERVICE IN VIRGINIA 135 

always did. It is some way bred in the bone of us 
mountain folks." 

In 1864, when I went home to cast my first vote for 
Mr. Lincoln, I heard a Union refugee from Tennessee, 
named Gibbs, speak at a Republican meeting at James- 
town. It seemed that Governor Johnson of Tennessee, 
who had been nominated for Vice-President with Mr. 
Lincoln, was asked to send some Unionists North to 
tell their trials to Northern audiences, and Mr. Gibbs 
was one of those men. His speech made such an im- 
pression upon me that I have retained very much of 
it in memory. He walked forward on the stage, a 
small lame man, clad in homespun, and after making 
an awkward bow, said : 

" Good evening, friends. I never saw any of you 
before. I may never see you again, but," pointing to 
the flag which decorated the stage, " I feel that we 
are all friends, because we all love that old flag. I am 
a tailor in my town in Tennessee, and have been Justipe 
of the Peace so much that everybody calls me ' Squire 
Gibbs.' When secession was first talked, there were 
many anti-secessionists in my section, most all of them 
being Whigs, but as things went on they dropped away 
and joined the secession element, until it came about 
that I was the only Union man in the town. My tailor 
shop had always been a great resort to talk politics, but 
people stopped coming there. They stopped speaking 
to me except once in a while to denounce me, and finally 
I was arrested and taken to Salisbury, North Carolina, 
and had to leave my wife and little boy with one slave 
woman that my wife owned, unprotected in the town. 
I was offered my liberty if I would take the oath to the 
Confederacy, but I refused, and remained in prison 
quite a long while. Finally, I got word that my wife 



136 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

was sick, and I begged to be released, but they shoved 
that oath at me again, and I could n't take it, although I 
was mighty anxious to get home, but there came an 
order that the Union men should be released, and I 
walked most of the way home to find that my wife 
had just died and been buried. They had not informed 
me of the serious character of her illness. The old 
colored woman brought me a silk flag, our Union flag, 
this flag, which she said my wife had made while she 
was on her deathbed, and gave it to her and told her 
to give it to me when I came home. She had kept it 
hid. The colored woman said to me, ' She told me to 
give you this flag when you came back, and she told me 
to say that you did right not to take the oath ; that she 
would n't have you to take it.' My folks had not 
wanted for necessaries of life. We owned our home, 
and my wife's relatives had brought provisions from 
the country, but I felt that my wife had died of a broken 
heart, because we were outcasts among the people that 
we were raised with, and because I was away in prison, 
and she did n't know what might come to me. I made 
a practice of walking to my tailor shop and opening it 
up, but nobody came in, and there was no tailor work 
to do. A crowd gathered around the post-office at 
mail-time every day, but if I walked among them they 
turned away. Nobody spoke to me, and as I only heard 
their secession talk and heard them read secession 
newspaper telling lies and lies about the progress of 
the war, I stopped going. Once in a while some man 
would holler to me, ' Squire, come here and hear this. 
We have licked the Yankees,' but I controlled myself 
and had no personal difficulties. I stayed around home 
and worked in my garden, as isolated as though there 
was nobody else in that town. One day some men 



POSTAL SERVICE IN VIRGINIA 137 

came and stopped at the palings outside and called to 
me, and said, ' Squire Gibbs, good morning. Good 
morning, Squire Gibbs. Come out here ; we want you 
to go with us to the levee,' and I went out and said, 
' What is up ? What do you mean ? ' I thought some 
new persecution had been invented. They said, ' Come 
down to the levee with us. A Yankee gunboat is com- 
ing up the river, and we want to save the town, and 
we know you will help us. Come down with us.' I 
went with them to the levee. Everybody spoke to me. 
It was, ' Squire Gibbs, good morning. Hope you are 
very well. Squire Gibbs,' and all that. A beautiful 
river gunboat with a big flag flying was coming up to 
the landing, towing a big barge behind. The officers 
and sailors all looked so fine in their clean uniforms. 
The big brass guns shone very brilliantly. I could 
hardly contain myself, and as they made fast to the 
levee the officer called out, ' Is Squire Gibbs here ? ' 
Then I was frightened. I knew that everybody would 
think that I had been in communication with them, 
but everybody answered, ' Yes, sir, he is here. He is 
here,' and one man said, ' Oh, yes, he is one of our very 
best citizens. Here he is.' The officer said, ' Come 
aboard. Squire Gibbs,' and I went on to the boat with 
many misgivings. He said, ' Let 's go back in the 
cabin.' We went back and took seats, and the captain 
produced a bottle of whiskey and said, ' Let 's take a 
drink. Squire.' I said, ' How did you know my name? ' 
' Oh,' he said, ' the Union people back at the next 
river town told me. I asked them, and they gave me 
your name. I left a barge there with an officer and 
some men, and also at the next town below, and I am 
gathering supplies.' I took a drink of that whiskey to 
the success of our cause with that captain. Then he 



138 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

said to me, ' I want you to tell these people that I want 
them to gather up all the corn and bacon there is 
around this section, and have it brought here this after- 
noon and to-morrow to load that barge there. Tell 
them that I don't want to take my men and go ashore 
and gather it by force; that I don't want to throw a 
shell or two into that Court House with a tin dome 
shining in the sun out there ; that I would n't like to 
burn the buildings in this town, nor have any other 
kind of trouble, nor carry off any prisoners. All I 
want is just the corn and the bacon, but I understand 
you have a good big gristmill here, and you may tell 
them that I want all the ground corn and wheat that 
they have got brought down too. Tell them that I am 
bound to have these supplies; that I will give receipts 
for everything; whether they will get their pay for 
it or not, I do not know. I am ordered to give receipts 
for everything, and that 's all I have got to say.' Then 
I asked the captain to tell me about the progress of 
the war, that I knew nothing hardly about the real 
condition of afifairs, and he told me how ' Mistow ' 
Grant had conquered and captured 'most everything, 
but was fighting with Lee in Virginia; that the result 
was not decided, but Grant had swung around to the 
James River, and was hanging right on, and that he 
thought in a few months more the whole job would be 
finished and the Union would prevail. I can't tell you 
my excitement at this news, my head was whirling 
around and my heart was thumping so I could hardly 
keep my seat, but we went back, and I said, ' I will tell 
the people. Captain, but when I go off the boat I want 
you to speak harsh to me, real harsh.' He said, ' All 
right, old fellow. Take another drink.' As I went off 
the boat, he said, ' Squire Gibbs, carry out my orders 



POSTAL SERVICE IN VIRGINIA 139 

to the letter, and if they are not complied with it will 
be the worse for you and some others. Do you hear, 
now, what I say?' I replied, * Yes, sir,' and went 
among my neighbors and told them what he demanded. 
At first they gathered up to me and whispered, * Squire, 
how did he treat you ? ' I said, ' Abused me like Hell ! ' 
They set about getting the supplies, and they got them 
and I went home. I fastened the door. I pulled down 
the curtains. I went to the bed and threw back the 
mattress, and I got that silk flag. I had been afraid 
the house would be searched, and I could n't help 
waving that flag and dancing around that floor and 
trying to sing, ' Oh, say, can you see in the dawn's early 
light ' " (and he waved the flag and hopped around on 
the stage). " Then my little boy stopped me, pulling 
at my leg, and looking up at me, he said, ' Daddy, 
where did you get your whiskey ? ' I was drunk, but 
not with liquor. I had not taken liquor enough to 
feaze me a bit, but I was intoxicated with joy, the joy 
that comes from the love of that old flag waving over 
us. Well, the war is 'most over, and then will come 
the big question of reconstruction and of settling things 
so that the North and South will really be united, and 
I believe Mr. Lincoln is wise enough to do that job, so 
I am up here to advocate his election ; and our Andrew 
Johnson, although he was an old Democrat, I don't be- 
lieve he will be one again. He has been so true to the 
Union; and I don't believe but what he will be all 
right to put on to preside over that Senate." 

I remember Squire Gibbs as one of the most effec- 
tive talkers I ever heard, and the events of that time 
would seem to indicate that President Lincoln was 
already planning for reconstruction and a reunited 
country with the Union element, the original anti- 



I40 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

secession element of the South, as a nucleus upon 
which to build. The vote in very many of the States 
was close as to secession, and we always met very many 
people, and among them the very best, who had fought 
earnestly and long against it. I have no doubt Mr. 
Lincoln's idea was that those people would strongly 
support a reasonable plan of reconstruction of the 
Southern State governments; but his untimely death 
and Mr. Johnson's stubborn contest on the subject of 
reconstruction with the party that had elected him 
made the problem a very hard one. 

Among the cases of robbery of the mails occurring 
in Virginia was one indicated by complaints from small 
post-offices in the Valley of Virginia, and on the route 
terminating at Culpepper, and on the Orange and Alex- 
andria Railroad. The contractor, Mr. Trotter, who 
ran stages daily over this route, was an old and respon- 
sible man, and I consulted with him and arranged that 
I should go up by way of Stanton and the Valley of 
Virginia and then take his stage at Woodstock and 
ride through to Culpepper, and he agreed to drive the 
stage that day. I stayed over night at Woodstock and 
rode over the route with him the next morning. I pre- 
pared a couple of letters, one to be mailed at Wood- 
stock, and another one on which I had already had the 
envelope stamped at an office further down the road. 
These letters contained money and were addressed, 
one to Baltimore and one to Philadelphia, and were of 
a character similar to those complained of as being 
lost, i. e., addressed to houses that received money by 
mail for goods; and such letters are known in the 
Department as " test letters." They are called by law- 
yers who defend criminals " decoy letters," and gen- 
erally considerable time is spent, while addressing a 



POSTAL SERVICE IN VIRGINIA 141 

jury, in showing that they are decoy letters sent by a 
detective anxious to make a reputation and are really 
intended to tempt an honest man who has never com- 
mitted any other act of theft; but, in fact, they are the 
only sure means by which competent evidence can be 
secured. For example ; " A " may send money to " B," 
say a ten-dollar note, and the money be abstracted from 
the letter or the letter stolen. Suspicion may rest upon 
a postmaster or a postal clerk, a well-grounded suspi- 
cion. Suppose he is arrested and " A 's " ten-dollar 
note found in his pocket. " A " is asked, " Can you 
identify this note ? " " No, but it is like it. I sent a ten- 
dollar note." " Was the note you sent a Treasury note 
or a National Bank note? " " Oh, it was a greenback." 
" Yes, but what kind of a greenback? " " Oh, I can't 
tell. I never took any notice of that, but it was a ten- 
dollar note, and that is ten dollars, and I have no doubt 
it is the same ten dollars." That is the best evidence 
he could give. Of course, that person would be ac- 
quitted. The judge would order the jury to acquit 
him ; that there was no evidence to convict. The " test 
letter " is described before mailing in a statement made 
generally by more than one person, giving the number 
and date and a full description of the money. Then, if 
the thief is arrested, the inspector carefully avoids any 
possible step that might be said to indicate that he 
could have put the money in the man's hands. The 
inspector asks the man to lay out his money in the 
presence of another person while he takes his descrip- 
tion of the money out and they compare the notes. If 
found correct according to the memorandum, of 
course, the notes can be fully identified in court, but 
the inspector does not take the money from the man. 
He has someone else take it who is present and who 



142 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

can produce it in court and also identify it whenever 
it is used in the trial. It is an unpleasant duty that 
a post-office official has to perform, but it is a duty that 
is performed for the benefit of the public and to secure 
safety in transmission of letters. It is a sworn duty on 
the part of the officer, done with a due sense of the 
responsibility, and he should be respected for it. 

The letters that I have spoken of mailing were 
looked for in the pouch each time that it came out from 
a post-office after the mail for that office had been taken 
out. As I had keys, I would open the bag on the mail- 
coach and find the letters and let Mr. Trotter see them. 
These letters were in the pouch when it was delivered 
at the Culpepper post-office. I did not go to the office, 
but went immediately to the station, and when the train 
came in got in the mail-car, and as the pouch which 
had come from the Culpepper office, after the removal 
of the Culpepper mail, was emptied, the mail agent 
looked for the two letters, the train being held in the 
meantime. Those two letters were not there. Then 
I went and found Major McNulty, a Freedman's 
officer who was on duty there, and asked him to go to 
the post-office with me, telling him what I wanted. I 
waited until the mail was all delivered to the patrons 
and the office clear and a little while longer, and then 
went into the post-office. The postmaster was a very 
old man who could do but very little. The work was 
all performed by the deputy postmaster, who was a 
very alert and popular young man. I told him that 
there were a couple of letters that came into that office 
which were not in the pouch at the train, although ad- 
dressed to East-bound points, Baltimore and Phila- 
delphia. He said he knew nothing about them. I 
asked him if he could not find them in the office there. 



POSTAL SERVICE IN VIRGINIA 143 

He said, " No, they would be here on this table if they 
were here. This is the table the mail was poured out 
on, and only Culpepper mail taken from it and the rest 
put in the pouch to go to the train, and the Culpepper 
mail put into boxes and delivered from all but a few 
of the boxes. The public were on the watch, and came 
and got the mail as soon as it arrived." 

" Those letters," I said, " had money in them and 
perhaps you have the money? " 

" Oh, no." 

" Well," I added, " please lay out what money you 
have in your pocket. You, of course, will be glad to 
prove your innocence, and I am, as I told you when I 
came in, a Special Agent of the Department." 

He laid out the money, and the Freedman's Bureau 
officer read off the notes, and I compared them with 
the memorandum. A five-dollar note was missing, but 
the other notes were there. He denied knowing any- 
thing about the five-dollar note, but the old man 
interrupted : 

" Why, don't you remember you changed five dollars 
a minute or two ago for one of the storekeepers. He 
wanted a five-dollar note and gave you small notes." 

" Oh, yes, that 's so. Yes, I did change a five-dollar 
note. Borrowed it from my pocket ; I did n't have one 
in my drawer." 

We found the five-dollar note in the possession of 
the merchant. The Freedman's Bureau officer had 
authority to arrest under the military law, and I had 
been deputed as a Deputy Marshal. We took the young 
man to a Justice of the Peace and asked him to send 
the case before a United States Commissioner at Rich- 
mond, which he did. Then we took the young man to 
the hotel, and I secured a room and we had supper 



144 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

brought to the room while we waited for the train for 
Richmond, which passed about midnight. There were 
quite a number of people around the hotel constantly, 
and many came up to the room and wanted to speak to 
the young man, and I allowed them to do so, but there 
were some suspicious circumstances, and McNulty was 
informed by someone that a rescuing party was being 
made up and that a horse was all ready for the young 
man to ride away. We were unable to fasten the room, 
and so we stayed up with the young man sitting in the 
corner behind us, and refused to allow anyone to go to 
him or for him to come out of the corner. Before 
train-time there were quite a number of young men 
who apparently had drank considerably, who began to 
talk openly and press up to the room, but they did not 
really attempt to rescue him, and the hotel omnibus 
took us to the train, and I took the young man to Rich- 
mond. He was indicted, and bail was given for his 
appearance at court. I was informed that everybody 
at Culpepper really believed that he was innocent, and 
nothing that the Freedman's Bureau officer could tell 
them would make them think otherwise. I felt sure the 
young man would be convicted and sentenced to ten 
years' confinement in a penitentiary, that being the 
minimum term of imprisonment for robbing the mails 
at that time. The law has been changed since. I got 
to brooding over the responsibility resting upon me, 
and dreaded the trial. I did not particularly mind the 
expected cross examination and scoring by the pris- 
oner's counsel ; that was to be expected, but I felt that 
to send a bright young man to prison for ten years, 
almost entirely on my evidence, was a very sad and un- 
welcome duty. So I was greatly relieved when he was 
arraigned, and, against the advice of his attorney, 



POSTAL SERVICE IN VIRGINIA 145 

pleaded guilty. He had stoutly maintained his inno- 
cence at the examination before the Commissioner, and 
his attorney had laid the foundation that an impetuous, 
very young Post-Office Agent had contrived with an 
unscrupulous Freedman's Bureau officer to convict an 
innocent young man, and a large number of Culpepper 
men came to testify to his good character; but he arose 
and said, " My counsel insists that I shall plead not 
guilty, but I am guilty." The judge sentenced him to 
the ten years, but after a year or so signed an applica- 
tion, as did the District Attorney and myself, for a 
pardon, and he was pardoned. He told me that he 
would not throw the responsibility of his taking to 
stealing on anyone else, but that a man who was a 
journeyman watchmaker wanted to start a jewelry 
store there, and had no money at all to buy any goods 
with, and had persuaded him to put in what little he 
had and be a partner unknown to the community ; and 
the watchmaker had kept asking for more money to 
buy goods, and he had resorted to stealing to invest 
in the business. 

Another case about the same time was really for the 
Treasury Department. When ten or twelve years of 
age, I passed from the primary department of the dis- 
trict school of Fredonia to the higher grade taught 
by the head master, whose name we will call Brown. 
He was a good teacher, of unusual appearance, tall and 
slim, with large head, kindly blue eyes, and a receding 
chin. He wore a blue swallow-tail coat with brass but- 
tons, and a buff vest. He was very active in his move- 
ments, especially when he appeared unexpectedly be- 
fore the evil-doers. We named him " Old Blue-Bottle- 
Fly." I presume a teacher who was not given a nick- 
name would feel slighted. 



146 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

After moving to another town, I knew nothing of 
Brown until after the war, when I met him at Washing- 
ton. He remembered me, and we had a few minutes' 
conversation. He held the position of disbursing clerk 
for the Post-Office Department, paying the salaries of 
the clerks, watchmen, messengers, repairs to furniture, 
heating and lighting the building, etc. He was an offi- 
cial of the Treasury Department, located at the Post- 
Office Department, and disbursed quite a large amount 
of money. 

In 1868 he became a defaulter for a large amount, 
I think about $50,000, and fled from Washington. It 
was found that the embezzled money had been lost in 
stock speculation in Wall Street. The newspapers had 
very much to say about the case, true and untrue, and 
he was announced in the few weeks following to have 
been discovered in various parts of this and other 
countries. The Secret Service officers of the Treasury 
Department and the detectives of Washington City fol- 
lowed many clues without results. While I happened 
to be at the Post-Office Department at Washington one 
day, the search for Brown was mentioned in conversa- 
tion with the Second Assistant Postmaster General. 
I suggested that if the attention of the Special Agents 
of the Department throughout the country was directed 
to the case, he might be found. I was asked to talk the 
matter over with the Postmaster General, and we went 
to his room. Governor Randall said that the matter 
properly belonged to the Treasury Department, but as 
Brown had been absent for a number of weeks without 
his whereabouts being discovered, he would make the 
suggestion to the Secretary of the Treasury at Cabinet 
meeting that day, and if there was no objection, he 
would direct the Special Agents to make search. The 



POSTAL SERVICE IN VIRGINIA 147 

Postmaster General said that it was thought Brown 
had safely gotten out of the country, and that he prob- 
ably had a considerable sum of money. I was also told 
that he had taken a package of United States bonds 
which had been left in the safe in his office for safe- 
keeping by General Petrea, a very old department 
clerk, a veteran of the War of 181 2, and a former Con- 
gressman from one of the New England States, These 
bonds represented General Petrea's savings, and as 
they were not registered they could readily be dis- 
posed of. 

That afternoon I was told that the Special Agents 
could make the effort to find Brown. Thinking that he 
might possibly be in Virginia, I made some inquiries 
to ascertain if any information could be obtained in 
the neighborhood of his home. A mail agent who ran 
from Washington to Richmond, and who lived a near 
neighbor to Mr. Brown, told me that he felt sure 
Brown's family had no knowledge of his whereabouts, 
and that they attributed his downfall to the opium 
habit, which had affected his mind, and that his self- 
control was so weak that he did not dare to have more 
than one dose of opium on hand; that he purchased 
each day two large doses, taking one at the time and 
the other later. I concluded it ought to be an easy 
matter to trace a man of unusual appearance who was 
obliged to visit a drugstore daily, and I set to work to 
see if he was in Virginia. The trail was soon struck 
and followed to Lynchburg, thence down the canal to 
Richmond. He had kept away from the main routes 
of travel, stopping leisurely at towns, stating that he 
was engaged in literary work. My first inquiry at 
Richmond was at a drugstore that was kept open at 
night, and I found that he came every night about 



148 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

twelve o'clock and purchased a couple of opium pills. 
He had become quite familiar with the night clerk, 
telling him he was engaged in literary work of his- 
torical character, and that he contributed poems and 
other articles to one of the city newspapers. He had 
read several of these articles to the clerk, who after- 
wards saw them in the newspaper. Brown had visited 
the night editor of this paper, and given an assumed 
name, and claimed to have a nervous affection which 
prevented him from meeting people, but had stated 
that he had a room in a very quiet part of the city 
where he could work undisturbed, and had given the 
location of the room. I procured a warrant from the 
United States Commissioner, and I was deputed by the 
United States Marshal to act as a deputy. I went to 
the house indicated, and found Brown busy writing in 
his room. Upon examining his belongings, I found 
that he did not have a large amount of money, I think 
only $200 or $300, but he did have the package of 
bonds. I said, " These are General Petrea's bonds, are 
they not? " and he replied, " Yes, they are." I asked 
if he had sold any of them, and he said they were all 
there. He made no objection to going to Washington 
with me without an order of removal from the court. 
So we went to my house to supper and then took the 
train for Washington. On the way I said to him, " I 
had better take these bonds to General Petrea as com- 
ing from you. Then you will not have to face the 
charge of taking the bonds." He said, " I wish you 
would. They are his," In the morning I delivered 
Brown to the United States Marshal at Washington, 
who had a warrant based upon an indictment. I then 
hurried to find General Petrea and gave him the bonds 
and took his receipt. Later I reported at the Depart- 



POSTAL SERVICE IN VIRGINIA 149 

ment. During the day I was sent for by the Postmaster 
General, and the Assistant Attorney General, who was 
looking after the case, was present. He said, " You 
have brought Brown the embezzler and delivered him 
to the Marshal with a small sum of money. But there 
were some bonds, which I am told you retained. What 
about them ? " 

" The bonds belonged to General Petrea," said I, " a 
very old man, and Brown admitted they were his. I 
have given them to General Petrea and have his 
receipt." 

" You had no business to do that," said the lawyer. 
" You should have turned the bonds over to the court 
or the Treasury Department. You had better get them 
back at once." 

" Don't think that I did not understand what I was 
doing," I replied. " If I had turned the bonds over 
to the court or the Treasury Department, General 
Petrea, who is past eighty years old, would have stood 
a poor chance of getting them, and they represent his 
entire property. Quite likely an Act of Congress would 
be necessary to wrench them out of the Treasury vaults 
if they once got in them. I hurried to General Petrea 
before I could be stopped by anyone, and delivered the 
property, which is unquestionably his, and he has 
promised not to give them to anyone without being 
advised by a good lawyer." 

The Assistant Attorney General was angry, and said, 
*' You will find yourself in trouble," but the Postmaster 
General said, " I am glad you did as you did." I never 
heard of any trouble about the bonds. Mr. Brown gave 
bail, and trial was postponed for one cause and another 
from time to time, and I do not think he was ever tried. 



CHAPTER V 

UNITED STATES MARSHAL FOR VIRGINIA 

AFTER General Grant's election to the Presidency 
in 1868, but before he was inaugurated, I hap- 
pened to be in Washington and called at his head- 
quarters. He saw me there and invited me to dinner 
at his house that evening. I attended, and was one of 
quite a number who were at the table. I remember 
that I sat next to the Austrian Minister, and during the 
dinner some wine was served which General Grant ex- 
plained was sent him by a Missouri friend who said the 
wine was made from grapes grown on General Grant's 
farm, formerly his father-in-law's property near St. 
Louis. The Austrian Minister said : 

" This is really excellent wine. You Americans 
judge your wine by our European standards, and 
wherever your wines differ materially you say they are 
not good, but you really have many good wines that 
I have tasted, and you ought to insist that your wines 
are the best." 

" I don't drink wine," said General Grant. " I have 
found that I cannot take any alcoholic beverages with 
safety." As we walked out from the dinner-table. 
General Grant turned to me and said : 

" I have decided what office I will give you in the 
spring. I am going to appoint you United States Mar- 
shal for Virginia. You need not place any papers on 
file. It will be a personal appointment, and I will only 




]\Ir. and Mrs. David B. Parker 

From photograph taken on their wedding trip 



MARSHAL FOR VIRGINIA 151 

say to you, as I said to Jim Casey [a brother-in-law], 
' that in the case of a personal appointee going wrong, 
I will be more severe than I would upon anyone else ' ; 
so you see you will have to give satisfaction." 

I tried to say something of a grateful nature, but he 
turned to his wife and said, *' Julia, are we going to 
Admiral Sands' this evening?" Nothing more was 
ever said upon the subject, but with the first names sent 
to the United States Senate after his cabinet appoint- 
ments, mine appeared for the office of United States 
Marshal for Virginia. I had lived in Richmond then 
four years, and had many warm friends. I found that 
the bond, which was quite a large one, had to be given 
by freeholders of the District, that is, Virginia, and 
that my friends in the North could not give a bond 
direct, so I thought I would ask a couple of wealthy 
friends in Richmond to make my bond and have some 
Northern friends indemnify them; but on arriving in 
Richmond the morning after my appointment, I found 
a message awaiting me from Isaac Davenport, one of 
my friends, to call upon him, which I did, and he said : 

" Robert Edmond and I talked over the matter when 
we saw your appointment as Marshal yesterday and 
decided to ask you to let us make your bond. We are 
not accustomed to signing bonds, but we have been 
partners in business a great while and we want to give 
you the endorsement before the community that our 
making the bond will give, and you may make it pub- 
lic if you choose." So two of the wealthiest citizens 
of Richmond signed my bond, and gave another one 
when I was reappointed at the end of four years. 

I had married in Jamestown, New York, in 1867, 
Victoria A. Howe, daughter of the late Hon. Chester 
Howe, and I brought my bride to Richmond, where my 



152 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

children were born. During our life there I never re- 
ceived aught but kindness from the people. I was 
known as a Republican, and served upon Republican 
Committees, but I was treated kindly always. 

I qualified and entered upon the duties of United 
States Marshal for Virginia. There was much busi- 
ness in the courts and much criminal business caused 
by the Internal Revenue Department enforcing the rev- 
enue laws. There was a District Judge but no Circuit 
Judge in those days, but the Chief Justice of the Su- 
preme Court, Salmon P. Chase, came frequently and 
held court and made long visits to Richmond, his cir- 
cuit being Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North 
and South Carolina. Each Justice of the Supreme 
Court then had one of the nine districts, as do now the 
more recently appointed Circuit Judges, who have re- 
lieved them of that duty. I saw much of Judge 
Chase, and entertained him at my house on one occa- 
sion. The fact was very apparent to all that while he 
did not seem to waver in his opinions as to slavery 
or the conflicts of the war-time, he was seeking a Dem- 
ocratic nomination for the Presidency. 

The first term of court I attended ofiicially was the 
April term, 1869. Judge Chase held a special term in 
March after I had qualified as Marshal, and handed 
me in open court the venire for grand and petty jurors 
for the April term, and instructed me to summon them 
from citizens of the District without regard to race, 
color, or previous servitude, but taking care to get 
reliable and honorable citizens. The press immediately 
caught the point, and talked about negro juries in the 
United States Court. 1 exercised the greatest care in 
the selection of the jurors, who were summoned direct 
by the Marshal in those days, and summoned some of 



MARSHAL FOR VIRGINIA 153 

the most prominent white citizens of the State and a 
few colored men for each jury. Some of the latter 
I obtained by sending blank summons to men whom 
I knew well in different parts of the State, as, for in- 
stance, Judge Watkins of Farmville and Judge Gar- 
nett of Tappahannock. These were gentlemen with 
whom I had become well acquainted in the postal ser- 
vice. I asked them if there was a colored man in their 
acquaintance perfectly competent to weigh evidence 
and be a juror ; that they would do me a favor by writ- 
ing his name in a summons to be delivered to him. 
Judge Watkins summoned a tobacco manufacturer who 
was a successful business man at Farmville. Judge 
Garnett sent the name of Aaron Commodore without 
comment. The day that the jurors took their seats and 
the Grand Jury received the charge of Chief Justice 
Chase, the court-room was crowded, because it was 
expected that the subject of treason would be alluded 
to somewhat, although, by the way, no indictments for 
treason were found. All who had been summoned ap- 
peared, except Aaron Commodore, and I had to return 
the venire, saying that he had been summoned but had 
not arrived. Judge Chase waited a few moments, and 
then commenced his charge to the Grand Jury. He had 
proceeded for a time, when a bailiff called me to the 
door and told me that Aaron Commodore had come, 
and I hurried to the Judge and said that the missing 
juror, who w^as from Tappahannock County, had just 
arrived. I cannot do justice to a description of this 
juror. He weighed two hundred and fifty pounds 
probably, was very black, his hair was cut short, his 
features were large, and he had an enormous wen on 
one side of his neck. He actually brought into the 
court-room a shiny black bag such as a minstrel of 



154 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

that period would bring on the stage, and the bailiff 
shoved him forward to a vacant seat between two of 
the most distinguished white citizens of Virginia, Hon. 
John Minor Botts being one of them. Lawyers and 
newspaper reporters looked at me and could hardly 
restrain their merriment. Justice Chase turned very 
dark, called me up to the bench and said, " Where did 
you get that man? " I told him how he came to be 
summoned; that the Virginia Judge had vouched for 
him by putting his name in the summons and signing 
it, and Judge Chase said, " He is trying to bring you 
and this court into contempt," but he turned to the 
jury and said, " I will commence my charge anew." 
As he did so. Commodore arose to his feet, and I 
thought I would give something handsome to be at a 
distance just then. 

" May I speak to the court? " said Commodore. 

"Yes," said Judge Chase; "what have you to 
say?" 

" I wish to make apology for being late. I took the 
stage at Tappahannock which, after riding all night, 
should have been here at seven o'clock, but we broke 
an axle in the night, and I had hard trouble to get an- 
other conveyance to bring me here, and I came direct 
to the court-house on arrival. I have never been in a 
court-room in my life before, and have never, of 
course, sat as juror, but I know that I ought to have 
been here on time." 

" Never mind, you are excused," said the Judge. 

" May I say something more ? " added Commodore. 
" I deem it a very great honor to be summoned on this 
jury, but I would like, if possible, to be excused and 
will tell my reasons. I have contracted a quantity of 
oak timber to a shipbuilding firm in Maine, and two 



MARSHAL FOR VIRGINIA 155 

ships have just arrived to get the timber, which I have 
in the water ready to load upon the ships. I will stay 
and serve as a juror, if it is necessary, but I have no 
competent person to attend to my business while I am 
away." 

My stock rose. Judge Chase questioned him, and 
asked him how he came to be in that business. 

" Formerly I was a slave on the plantation of Judge 
Brockenborough," replied Commodore, ''and tended 
to getting out the timber which he sold. I have taken 
a timber contract myself, and this is my first deal." 

" You may be excused," said the Judge, " and the 
Marshal will pay you your mileage both ways and one 
day's attendance." 

" I cannot accept pay for service that I have not per- 
formed," said Commodore. But I took him out of the 
court room and induced him to accept the money to 
which he was entitled. 

I heard no complaints about the character of any of 
the jurors, but, of course, there were not very many in 
the State as competent as those who were selected. 

An incident occurred in connection with the Cuban 
revolution while I was Marshal. Circulars and letters 
came from Washington from the Department of Jus- 
tice and the State Department, instructing the Marshals 
of the United States to enforce the neutrality laws; 
and my Deputy at Norfolk was specially instructed to 
look out for filibustering vessels that might be fitted 
out there. One day my little office was filled by naval 
officers. Admiral Rodgers and twelve or fifteen others 
of his staff, and officers of the Atlantic Fleet. They 
were in full uniform, and this gray-haired veteran 
approached me and said : 

" You are the Marshal of the United States? " 



156 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

" I am." 

" Well, I am Admiral Rodgers in command of the 
Atlantic Fleet, and I am instructed to report to you 
for duty in connection with the enforcement of the 
neutrality laws. My flag-ship is at Norfolk." 

No one could suppress a smile, but I asked him if 
he had come up with one of his men-of-war, and he 
replied that they had come up with a dispatch boat. 
I said : 

" I suppose, now that the official errand is ended, 
that you gentlemen would like to see something of 
Richmond, and I shall be very glad to show you 
about." 

" Yes," he said, " we have taken these instructions 
as a pretext to come and see Richmond. You take it 
right, young man." 

We put in the day in seeing Richmond, and they 
returned to Norfolk on their steamer in the evening. 
Admiral Rodgers invited me to come down and look 
over my command, but I did not do so. I would, no 
doubt, have met a warm reception. 

A lawyer named Webster came from New York to 
my office one day with a detective, and said that he 
was acting for the Spanish Government; that there 
w^as a filibustering force in the city of Richmond which 
had been organized and was being drilled to go to 
Cuba, and he demanded that I should arrest them. I 
asked him if he alluded to the force that was drilling 
in the hall near the Exchange Hotel, and he said : 

" Yes, I see you know about them, and still have not 
acted." 

" Well," I admitted, " I have heard rumors, and I 
will go and arrest them." 

" You must raise a posse large enough to capture 



MARSHAL FOR VIRGINIA 157 

them," he insisted. " There are more than a hundred 
men." 

" I know," said I, " but I don't think a posse will be 
necessary. We will go up to the United States Com- 
missioner and get a warrant." 

A warrant was obtained for John Doe and Richard 
Roe and one hundred others, and I asked Mr. Webster 
to excuse me while I executed it. I went down to the 
hall and read the warrant to the Commandant, who 
was an ex-Confederate Major, a Virginian, a fine- 
appearing young man. He had raised the recruits and 
intended to take them to Cuba. They were drilling in 
the hall, and I told him to ask them to fall in and 
march to the street, and I would take command, and 
we would take them up to the United States Commis- 
sioner; that in the mean time he had better make ar- 
rangements for bail; that the newspapers had said 
that they had plenty of money. He sent for Thomas 
R. Branch, a banker, with whom their funds were de- 
posited, and Mr. Branch accompanied us to the Com- 
missioner's office, who quickly made out bail bonds, 
and Thomas R. Branch was accepted as bondsman 
for all, and the men went away. They did not go 
in a body to Cuba, but the officers and some of the 
men did reach Cuba in time to be captured and 
executed. 

In 1870 I had the duty of taking the census of the 
State of Virginia. There were found to be 1,300,000 
people in the large State of 99 counties. The city of 
Richmond contained about 52,000, about one half of 
whom were colored. The duty was quite an onerous 
one in so large a district, so many enumerations being 
required and so much care being necessary to have the 
returns correct before they were sent to Washington. 



158 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

I had a very competent Chief Deputy, Colonel Robert 
Boiling, whose sister married General Lee's e j icrt son, 
Major General William F. Lee of the Confederacy. 
Colonel Boiling prepared the social statistics which 
accompanied the census returns, and they attracted a 
great deal of attention in Washington. General Fran- 
cis A. Walker was the Director of the Census, and 
General Garfield was Chairman of the Committee on 
Census in Congress. I met General Garfield at Gen- 
eral Walker's office once in Washington, and General 
Walker introduced me to him as the Marshal of Vir- 
ginia, and General Garfield said, " Oh ! Then you are 
the author of those social statistics that I have been 
reading with great interest." I hastened to assure him 
that I was not directly the author, and had not had the 
same advantages of education as my Chief Deputy 
who wrote those essays. He was very polite all the 
same, and said that I was responsible for them, and 
showed me considerable attention. Afterward I be- 
came very well acquainted with him when I was Chief 
Post-Office Inspector, up to the time of his election as 
President and immediately afterward. 

I was very careful to get competent enumerators, 
and the work was as well done as could be under all 
the circumstances. A few colored enumerators were 
appointed, perhaps five or six in the whole State out 
of about one hundred and fifty. One of these enumer- 
ators was in Goochland County. His name was Henry 
Clay Harris. His work was delivered in good order, 
and about the time he completed it a fine-appearing 
Virginia gentleman of the old school came to my office 
and gave his name with the title of " Colonel " from 
Goochland County. He said: 

" I presume that I have been reported to you for re- 



MARSHAL FOR VIRGINIA 159 

fusing to give information to your enumerator in our 
county who is taking tlie census." 

" No," I said, " I have heard nothing of it." 
" Well," continued the Colonel, " he is a colored 
man, the son of one of our prominent citizens who sent 
him, when a boy, to Ohio, where he was educated at 
Oberlin College. He returned to his old home, and 
has a little property which his father gave him. He 
is entirely well behaved and a competent man to take 
the census, but when he rode into my grounds while 
taking our neighborhood last week, I saw him coming, 
and I was so angry to think that I had got to receive 
a colored man as the representative of the United 
States Government that I refused to give him any in- 
formation whatever, and ordered him off the premises. 
He informed me of the law, and I told him I did n't 
care a damn for the law, to leave my premises, and he 
rode away. After completing his work there, he went 
to another part of the county. But I have reflected on 
that matter, and I have come down here to apologize 
and to say that if you will ask the enumerator to return 
to my place I will cheerfully give him the information 
and treat him properly as the representative of the Gov- 
ernment, and will pay the additional expense that the 
inconvenience causes him." 

" Perhaps I had better not do it," I suggested. " He 
has not reported the matter, and I am not supposed to 
know it. Suppose you just send word to him." 
" All right, I will go back and send him word." 
Later I asked the enumerator about the matter, and 
he said that he received the message, went to the Colo- 
nel's, was given all the information, his horse was 
taken care of by a servant, and he was invited into the 
house and given dinner. He added that he had not 



i6o A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

reported the case because he felt sure that the Colonel, 
who was a perfect gentleman, would think better of 
his course. 

Many books have been written descriptive of the 
innate chivalry of Southern gentlemen, F. Hopkin- 
son Smith's " Colonel Carter " is not really so much 
overdrawn as many readers think. I saw very many 
Virginia gentlemen who were almost as simple-minded, 
as true and honest and chivalrous, as the Colonel 
Carter of the novel, although, of course, that character 
is exaggerated. 

A friend in Richmond, who is an inimitable story- 
teller and entertainer, Polk Miller, told a story of the 
war. He was a Sergeant in the Virginia Artillery, 
and when General Grant's army was on the James 
River with headquarters at City Point, Sergeant Miller 
accompanied an officer and two guns to the famous 
Westover estate on the James River and secured a 
position just before daylight, where the guns were 
masked by underbrush on the bank of the river, and 
remained there in concealment, their orders being to 
fire upon United States vessels loaded with supplies or 
troops. Patrol gunboats were going up and down the 
river all the time and had to be calculated upon, but it 
was thought that some damage could be inflicted upon 
the Government steamboats before a gunboat could 
prevent. 

A steamer was seen approaching loaded with sol- 
diers, and the officer in charge of the guns made ready 
to fire. As the current ran in the river, the steamer 
with fifteen hundred or two thousand soldiers on board 
would be obliged to come in very close range, and 
every preparation was made to strike her and sink her 
as she was passing, but just as they were about to fire, 



MARSHAL FOR VIRGINIA i6i 

Colonel Carter, the Commander of the Regiment of 
Artillery, arrived and called out quickly : 

" Stop ! Don't fire on that steamer ! " 

The officer in charge could not conceal his chagrin 
and disappointment, and said, " Colonel Carter, what 
are we sent here for but to fire on just such a steamer? 
We could sink her there in a jiffy." 

" Yes," said the Colonel, " you could, but you can- 
not fire on that boat. Don't you see the lady stand- 
ing by the pilot house?" 

The opportunity was gone. The battery left the 
place and did not again undertake the same task, as 
it was thought if they did the gunboats would prob- 
ably attack them at once, and a cavalry force would 
be thrown from the army above, and they might be 
captured before they could get away to a place of 
safety. 

Soon after I qualified as United States Marshal, I 
received a message from the Secretary of the Treas- 
ury, Mr. Boutwell, to call upon him, which I did. He 
seemed very much surprised to see so young a man 
and said : 

" I think there has been some mistake made. Vir- 
ginia is the most important District we have to-day, 
and I learn that there has been more of fraud and vio- 
lation of law in Virginia than anywhere else. I am 
making a special effort to place the ablest men we have 
in Virginia to investigate the frauds and bring of- 
fenders to justice. Now, you seem like a boy in 
appearance." 

I told him that I was very young. He added : 

" I am informed that there are a large number of 
warrants which have been returned unserved by your 
predecessor, who was unable to serve them, especially 



i62 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

in the western and southern part of the State, and I 
sent for you with a view of going over the matter and 
trying to impress upon you the importance of execut- 
ing all the criminal warrants that our revenue officers 
obtain." 

I told him that I felt the responsibility, and would 
endeavor to execute the warrants when placed in my 
hands. He seemed to have misgivings, and said 
frankly that he would have to talk with the President ; 
that he thought an older, more experienced man ought 
to be in the position to which I had been appointed. 

" Very well," said I. " I think it would be well for 
you to talk with the President about me, and I will 
return to Virginia and enter upon my duties and try 
and execute the warrants." 

He sent the Supervisor of Internal Revenue and a 
number of Special Agents who, with the new Col- 
lectors and Assessors who were appointed, prosecuted 
a most vigorous war upon offenders against the reve- 
nue laws. I speedily found that there were some pretty 
hard propositions involved in the execution of these 
warrants. Take one case in the southwestern part of 
the State as an illustration. The revenue officers had 
been there, and one or more had been wounded when 
endeavoring to visit a distillery in the mountains which 
was owned by a Colonel Dyer, who had been a Con- 
federate officer and who had, it was said, a number of 
his old soldiers with him at the distillery who defied 
the officers. The whiskey which he distilled was taken 
away in wagons and sold without paying any tax. 
I knew an ex-captain of our service who was living at 
Danville and who had been a very brave officer, and I 
sent for him and told him that I wanted him to accept 
the appointment of Special Deputy Marshal to execute 



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MARSHAL FOR VIRGINIA 163 

a warrant against Colonel Dyer ; that he could have as 
many assistants as he needed and a troop of cavalry if 
they would be any good. He said he would think the 
matter over until morning. In the morning he came 
in and said, " Give me your warrant. I am going to 
try to arrest him without any assistance." He drove 
from Danville thirty miles or so to the neighborhood 
of the distillery, and arrived in the night-time. He 
had posted himself as to a trusty man in the neighbor- 
hood, a colored man, who obtained from a man who 
worked in the distillery the exact arrangement of the 
distillery buildings, the location of bunks which were 
occupied by Colonel Dyer and his fellow soldiers, and 
learned that Colonel Dyer was then at the distillery. 
The following night the Deputy drove quite close to 
the distillery with the colored man, who, however, was 
not to be exposed if possible, but who held the horse 
while the Deputy entered the distillery and pulled 
Colonel Dyer from his bunk, and placed a revolver to 
his temple. He walked with arms locked with the 
Colonel out the door and said : 

" You may give an alarm and your men may come 
out and try to rescue you, but they can't get you. 
They could n't kill me so quick but that I could pull 
this trigger, and if I do, it will blow your head off. 
I am a Deputy United States Marshal, and have a war- 
rant for your arrest. Now come right along." 

Dyer's men were alarmed, and came out all armed 
and pressed a little too close. The Deputy said : 

" Dyer, make those men fall back or I will shoot." 

Dyer told me afterwards that he felt the pressure 
of that pistol, and that it did not waver a particle, and 
he ordered the men to keep back. The Deputy took 
him to the buggy, and the colored man, who was hold- 



i64 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

ing the horse, fearing that he would be recognized, let 
go of the horse's bit too soon; so the Deputy had 
trouble to get his man and himself into the buggy, but 
he effected it and drove to Danville. Dyer was taken 
to Richmond and tried in the United States Court and 
sentenced to the Albany Penitentiary. 

One after another the hard cases yielded to the ef- 
forts of my Deputies, until it was said that there were 
no unexecuted warrants. 

One day I received a telegram from Secretary Bout- 
well asking me to rem^ain at my usual haunts and to 
render service to an officer of his Department who 
might call upon me soon. The next night I was called 
up from bed to see a gentleman at the door. I went 
down and found a small plain-looking man, who said : 

" My name is Beach. I am a detective of the Treas- 
ury Department. I am told that I can place implicit 
confidence in you. I want you to get a warrant for 
Bonash, Stone, Roach, Burke, and William Hoppe, 
and be where you can arrest them over Mount Castle's 
Store on Broad Street, Bonash's home, at two o'clock 
this evening. I have an engagement there with them 
to receive a quantity of counterfeit tobacco revenue 
stamps; and I want further that you should get a 
thousand dollars to me at the Spotswood Hotel by nine 
o'clock. I have escaped from my room and climbed 
down the rain-pipe to get here. I have negotiated with 
these men for tobacco and for counterfeit stamps, and 
they keep a watch over me and appear to distrust me. 
I have assured them that I have my funds in the bank, 
and they have found from the bank that I have n't 
any funds there. I then told them that I would show 
them in the morning that I had funds to pay for the 
stamps. You want to get a package of a thousand 



MARSHAL FOR VIRGINIA 165 

dollars, making the package as large as possible, to 
me in safety by nine o'clock. I cannot tell you how it 
can be delivered readily, and I cannot tell you just 
what you will have to do or what my surroundings 
will be." 

I had to act before bank hours. I had no doubt about 
his being all right, and I went early to the post-office 
and the internal revenue office and my own office, 
and succeeded in making up a thousand dollars by bor- 
rowing. Then I went to the hotel, and as I entered 
the office door I saw that Beach sat with his feet up at 
the window, and with him was Stone, who had for- 
merly been a tobacco inspector. I spoke to Stone and 
walked on through the office to the closets below. 
Then I waited until I heard some men coming down- 
stairs, and I laid my package of money on a closet seat 
and came out the door, hearing Beach say, " Now, 
Stone, I tell you that he won't be located," but he was 
using the name of Stone constantly. I stepped in front 
of Stone, and maneuvered so that Beach went into the 
closet that I had vacated, and Stone stepped into an- 
other one and I went away. At two o'clock I went to 
Broad Street, but as I could see no one I went to a 
shoe-store opposite, the proprietor of which I knew, 
and asked him if I could go to the next floor and sit 
in a window awhile to watch for a man. He took me 
up to the second floor, and I remained there until after 
five o'clock. Once Roach came out from the place 
opposite near us and returned. The signal agreed 
upon between Beach and myself was that he was to 
come away from the place and blow his nose with his 
handkerchief, in which case I would know it was all 
right to go and arrest them. I did not dare to have 
any of my deputies about, and I went to the Chief of 



i66 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

Police, who said that he would be in the saloon next 
Mount Castle's store and watch for me, and whenever 
he saw me he would accompany me to make the arrest. 
We also posted a policeman at the rear of the house, 
so that no one could go to the alley. Some time after 
five o'clock Beach came out of the entrance to the 
rooms that were over the store, there being a side en- 
trance and stairway, and blew his nose. I had a 
policeman also at the corner of the street, and I 
motioned to him to arrest Beach as I ran across, pulled 
the bell, and ran quickly upstairs. I found my men in 
a little hall bedroom with a package of money on the 
table before them, preparing to divide it. I grabbed 
the money, read the warrant, and stood against the 
door. One of them immediately said : 

" That won't do. Rather than be arrested, we will 
commit another crime. You shan't go out of this place 
alive." 

" Then you will all go out of it straight to the gal- 
lows," said I. " My men are around this house. Not 
one of you can escape. This money is mine," and I 
put it in my pocket. They had revolvers out, but par- 
leyed until the Chief of Police arrived, and then we 
marched them off to the Commissioner's office. When 
I came on to the street, Beach stood there in the cus- 
tody of the policeman, and angrily demanded why I 
had him arrested. 

" You have probably got the stamps, have you 
not? " I replied. 

" Yes," he said. 

" Well, you are not to be allowed to go anywhere 
except with us to the Commissioner," and Beach found 
that a possible attack on the evidence was forestalled 
by this action. These men were all indicted, but only 



MARSHAL FOR VIRGINIA 167 

two of them were ever convicted and sentenced. They 
all gave a good bond at the start, but there were re- 
newals, and trials were postponed for one cause and 
another, and new bonds given, and straw bonds were 
very ingeniously substituted for the original ones. 
One postponement for one of the men was agreed to 
by the District Attorney himself, who visited the 
prisoner at the request of the Court, and said that 
while he was in his room the prisoner was attacked 
by violent hemorrhage from his lungs. I afterwards 
learned that this result was obtained by binding to- 
bacco soaked in liquor in the armpits until it produced 
nausea and vomiting and eventually bleeding. 

Bonash and two of the others were tobacco manu- 
facturers, and were to supply to Beach the tobacco, to 
which these sixty-pound counterfeit stamps were to 
be affixed. The boxes of tobacco were to be shipped 
to New Orleans in bond, where Beach said that he 
had a pull and could attach the stamps and then ship 
the tobacco up the Red River to Shreveport, where he 
claimed to be in business. He did not pay for the 
tobacco, and it was never shipped. He did, however, 
pay for the stamps, about thirteen hundred dollars. 
Roach was sent to the Albany Penitentiary to serve 
two years. He had been a soldier in the army, and his 
wife sought every means to get him pardoned without 
avail, until his term had nearly expired, when Presi- 
dent Grant ordered his pardon to restore him to citi- 
zenship. The pardon, when issued, was sent to the 
Marshal of Virginia, as was the custom, and I trans- 
mitted it to the Superintendent of the Penitentiary at 
Albany, New York, for delivery, and heard no more 
about it at that time. But a year or two later, a reve- 
nue officer, who had been in the case, told me that he 



i68 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

had met Roach in New York, where he had a stand in 
Washington Market, and that Roach had served his 
time out and never received the pardon which his wife 
thought the President had promised. When the rev- 
enue officer went back to New York, he told Roach 
that he had heard he was pardoned and to find out 
about it. This resulted in Roach writing to the Albany 
Penitentiary, from which he had been discliarged 
ahead of time, under the rules giving time for good 
behavior, and the pardon, which had been retained 
there because they did not know his address, was sent 
to him. Later Boss Tweed was placed on trial in New 
York for looting the city treasury, and among the 
jurors given in the newspaper report was Roach, who 
was described as a Washington Market huckster. I 
immediately wrote to the United States Attorney, who 
gave the information to the District Attorney in New 
York, that Roach was a convicted felon, but had been 
pardoned. The newspapers gave the examination of 
the jurors. When Roach was asked if he had ever 
been convicted of crime, he replied, " No." When he 
was asked if he had not been convicted in United States 
Court for violation of the internal revenue laws, 
" Why," he said, " technically, yes. There was a tech- 
nical violation of law about reports when I was a to- 
bacco manufacturer, and the Judge himself advised 
me to allow conviction, and that he would see that I 
was pardoned at once, and this was done, but it was 
only a technical violation of law and I have the Presi- 
dent's pardon." He was allowed to sit on the jury. 
Roach voted for acquittal and hung the jury, and he 
was a rich man afterwards, wearing diamonds and 
living at his ease. 

When the Richmond newspapers published the an- 



MARSHAL FOR VIRGINIA 169 

nouncement from Washington that I had been ap- 
pointed United States Marshal, the " Richmond Dis- 
patch," then the leading newspaper, printed some com- 
plimentary words and called me Colonel. So the next 
day, when I arrived in Richmond, everyone who con- 
gratulated me on my appointment called me Colonel. 
I went to the " Dispatch " office and thanked the editor 
for his compliments, but asked him why he called me 
Colonel. He replied : 

" All the Marshals of Virginia as far back as I can 
remember have been called Colonel, and not one of 
them ever saw military service. Now, I understand 
that you have a service record, and we don't intend 
that you should be treated with less respect than your 
predecessors. You will find you will be Colonel in 
this community, where all the rest of the officials have 
military titles." 

When my commission came from the State Depart- 
ment at Washington, it was addressed to me as Colo- 
nel, and when I was in Washington, I thought I 
would see how this came about. I inquired at the 
State Department and was referred to the clerk who 
issued all commissions and kept a record of them. He 
was a very old man, and when I asked him how he 
came to call me Colonel when sending my commission, 
he replied : 

" You are a Colonel." 

I asked him where he got his authority, and he said : 

" A President, I can't remember which one, issued 
an executive order that all Marshals of the United 
States who came to Washington and acted as escort 
for the outgoing and incoming President on Inaugu- 
ration Day should have the rank of Colonel of the 
Army." 



I70 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

" I don't know," said I, " where there is a United 
States statute authorizing that." 

The old man was very indignant, and exclaimed, 
" If the President of the United States can't create a 
title for an officer, we had better give up and become 
a monarchy, where titles can be given by the ruler ! " 

Governor Wells of Virginia later announced that I 
was a member of his staff, an aide-de-camp, with the 
title of Colonel, but I could not find that he had author- 
ity to appoint more than one officer, his secretary, with 
the title of Colonel. However, the title seemed fixed 
to me as long as I held official office, and I am re- 
minded of the story of the visit of a Northern man to 
Texas, who asked a gentleman who had been called 
Colonel if he was in the Confederate army. The 
gentleman said: 

" No, sir, I was not." 

" Were you in the Union army? " 

" No, sir, I was not." 

" Perhaps you belong to the militia of the State? " 

" No, sir, I never belonged to the militia." 

" Perhaps you are on the Governor's staff?" 

" No, sir, I am not on the Governor's staff." 

" Will you please explain to me how you came by 
the title of Colonel?" 

" With the greatest of pleasure, sir. Many persons 
about here have official titles who are not entitled to 
them, but I came by my title legitimately, sir. I mar- 
ried the widow of Colonel Poindexter at Dallas, sir." 

While I was United States Marshal, some arrests of 
the famous Ku Klux Klan were made. As this was be- 
fore the Congressional enactments against them, three 
men who were arrested were charged with assault- 
ing and interfering with United States officers. The 



MARSHAL FOR VIRGINIA 171 

Collector of Internal Revenue for the extreme West- 
ern District of Virginia found a tobacco manufacturer 
in Patrick County who was technically violating the 
revenue laws. The factory was seized but allowed 
to continue operations, and a compromise of the 
amount of taxes in arrears was offered by the manu- 
facturer and recommended by the Collector and the fac- 
tory restored; but in the mean time the Collector had 
to place a Deputy in charge of the factory. For this 
purpose he secured a young man named Wells, living 
in the neighborhood, who had a good reputation and 
was known to have been a Union man, having resisted 
the draft and avoided going into the Confederate 
army. He was a nephew of a very noted Union man 
who was a Member of Congress and Lieutenant Gov- 
ernor of Virginia. It happened while this young man 
was at the factory that a Ku Klux Klan organization 
was effected at Patrick Court House, a dispensation 
having been granted across the line in North Carolina, 
where the organization was strong. At the organiza- 
tion meeting it was proposed that some Union man 
should be " visited." No one but the young man, 
Wells, seemed available ; so a party selected according 
to the forms of the order went to his house at night, 
and being told by his wife that he was at the tobacco 
factory in charge of it, they went there, all with their 
faces blackened and otherwise disguised, took him 
from the factory, and beat him with hickory withes. 
His wife had followed them, and her screams attracted 
such attention that the Ku Klux withdrew. Wells 
thought he recognized some of the party, and went to 
the court house, where he happened to meet one of my 
Deputies who was there on other business. The Dep- 
uty, who, by the way, was only employed to collect 



172 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

executions, was a native of Virginia, of very high 
standing and not known as a Repubhcan, but a man 
who was very highly respected and who felt that he 
must do his duty as Deputy Marshal when called upon. 
The Ku Klux party had returned to the court house 
and drunk heavily, and he had no trouble finding the 
three men that Wells thought he could identify with 
the blacking still remaining on their necks and but 
indifferently washed from their faces. One of these 
men was the presiding magistrate of the County Court 
and a popular young citizen. They were held for the 
United States Court by the commissioner, indicted and 
finally tried in Richmond, and were convicted and sen- 
tenced to imprisonment in the Albany Penitentiary. 
When the trial and conviction of the leader, Mills, was 
ended, he was brought into my office before being taken 
to the city jail, and I informed him that he could leave 
his money and valuables there, or the Deputy could 
take them along and give them to the jailer at the city 
jail for him. He replied that he had no money except 
a few cents which he would like to keep for postage 
stamps and writing material, and seeing that I had a 
pair of handcuffs ready, he said to me : 

" Don't make me suffer the humiliation of being 
handcuffed here. I am a Mason, the head of my 
lodge, and I make a Masonic appeal to you to allow 
me to have my hands free in going to jail." 

" Have you any weapons ? " I asked. 

" No, sir," he replied. 

" I think I will see," I said. A loaded pistol was 
produced from his hip pocket, and a well-filled pocket- 
book also. He held out his hands for the handcuffs 
without any further remark. On his return from the 
Albany Penitentiary, he called upon me and asked me 



MARSHAL FOR VIRGINIA 173 

to lend him some money to reach home with, the 
amount furnished him at Albany not being sufficient. 
I asked him if he had any plan to escape that night 
when he was taken to the city jail, and he said he had, 
and that his friends were awaiting him with a horse. 
I loaned him the money that he asked for, and took his 
note, and have it yet in my possession. 

This was the only Ku Klux lodge that I ever heard 
of in Virginia, but in the Carolinas they were very 
prevalent, and were finally broken up by the arrests 
made under the auspices of officers of the Department 
of Justice, two of whom joined the order and fur- 
nished complete evidence. One of these men was Cap- 
tain Hester, who had been the executive officer of the 
Alabama of the Confederate navy. The other one was 
J. N. Beach, of whom I have already spoken. A very 
large number of members of the Ku Klux organization 
were arrested, and test cases were made in South Caro- 
lina, where United States Circuit Judge Bond presided, 
and Henry Stansbury of Cincinnati, an ex-United 
States Attorney General, and Reverdy Johnson of Bal- 
timore, were employed to aid the local attorneys in 
defense. Reverdy Johnson had been Attorney General 
of the United States, United States Senator from 
Maryland, and Minister to England, and was one of 
the most eminent lawyers in the countiy. After a few 
had been convicted. President Grant pardoned the re- 
m.ainder, I think more than a hundred, who were under 
indictment and who pleaded guilty. Congress had 
authorized the United States Circuit Judges to relieve 
Justices of the Supreme Court from having to hold 
the United States Circuit Court, in their respective 
districts, and Bond of Baltimore was the first judge of 
our Circuit. He was violently assailed for enforcing 



174 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

the United States statutes against the Ku Klux in the 
CaroHnas. On the occasion of the trials he stopped 
over at Richmond, to hear some Chancery cases. 
Reverdy Johnson was with him, and they stayed at 
the house of the Clerk of the Court. I called upon 
them in the evening, and Judge Bond gave a very 
humorous account of the trip. He said that Mrs. 
Reverdy Johnson,, who lived near him in Baltimore, 
came to his house one evening and said, " There are 
some men here from South Carolina who want my 
husband to go down and defend Ku Klux. Now he 
is nearly blind, and I won't allow him to go unless you 
will take charge of him. Judge, and take care of him," 
and the Judge consented to do so. At Columbia, South 
Carolina, where the trials took place, they had adjoin- 
ing rooms, and Judge Bond, who had a fine sense of 
humor, opened the door between so that callers could 
be heard, and sat silently with some friends who were 
in his room. Judge Bond heard himself roundly 
abused, and Mr. Johnson, who knew that he was listen- 
ing, joined in the abuse. A fact came out in the course 
of the evening's talk that I think was never printed. 
Mr. Johnson said that when he entered the court tes- 
timony was being taken, and he thought the Govern- 
ment witness, who was a detective named Beach, was 
not being thoroughly cross-examined. He took the 
witness in hand and said : 

" You say that you worked your way into this 
lodge?" 

" Yes, sir." 

" Where was the meeting held? " 

" In a cotton-gin house with outside guards." 

" How did you work your way in? " 

" I knew the passwords and signs." 



MARSHAL FOR VIRGINIA 175 

" What were they doing when you entered the 
lodge ? " 

" Raising your fee, sir." 

" How do you know they were ? " 

" I heard the communication from the Grand Cy- 
clops, Wade Hampton, read, in which he explained 
the necessity of raising the amount necessary to hire 
Reverdy Johnson and other Northern counsel. I con- 
tributed $15, and I presume you h^ve the money in 
your pocket." 

Johnson said that he appealed to the Court, but 
Judge Bond twisted his moustache and said, " The wit- 
ness may go on." Mr. Johnson also said that, when 
the testimony showed the real brutality of the Ku 
Klux, he withdrew and washed his hands of the whole 
proceeding, but said he would take the cases to the 
United States Supreme Court and test the constitu- 
tionality of the law, because he thought, conscien- 
tiously, that the law exceeded the powers of Congress. 
Judge Bond joked him and said : 

" Johnson, did you get your fee? " 

" Yes," said Johnson. " They agreed to pay me 
$2500 in advance, and that I got. Stansbury told me 
he went down on trust, and he had never got any fee 
since." 

Mr. Johnson told many incidents connected with his 
long career in public life that were very interesting, 
including incidents occurring in England. He also 
told about going when a boy with his father to Phila- 
delphia, and while there dining with General Cadwal- 
ader of Washington's staff. Cadwalader pointed to a 
new picture in the dining-room, an engraving which 
had just been issued showing Washington and his staff 
officers crossing the Delaware, and ridiculed it, and 



176 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

said they crossed in an old flat-bottomed scow, and that 
Washington was morose and cross, and that the negro 
who, with an assistant, was polHng the boat over, com- 
plained to him that the other gentlemen were seated on 
the forward corner, which tipped the scow up so that 
he could not handle it aright. Washington was walk- 
ing back and forth at the other end of the boat, but he 
"went to the officers and found General Knox sitting 
on the gunwale and telling stories to the rest. Wash- 
ington said to them, in language that could hardly be 
repeated, to get into the middle of the boat and trim 
ship, and they changed their positions. Cadwalader 
said that was the only time that Washington spoke 
while crossing the river. 

The United States Courts in Virginia were held at 
Richmond, Norfolk, and Alexandria, the United States 
District Judge living at Alexandria; so I frequently 
went to Alexandria to attend court, and while doing so 
stayed in Washington, going back and forth. Some- 
times my wife accompanied me, and when she did we 
attended some of the receptions and parties at the 
White House and at other places. I shall always re- 
member an evening reception at General Sherman's 
house, for it gave a glimpse into the family life and 
simplicity of manners prevailing there. The reception, 
which was by card, was very largely attended ; foreign 
diplomats, army and navy officers abounded, and the 
house, which was quite a large one, was filled with 
guests. I happened to stand where I could hear Gen- 
eral Sherman's remarks for a time. A very tall, un- 
usual-looking man came toward the receiving party, 
escorting a blushing and handsome young lady. When 
General Sherman saw them, he raised his hand and 
said: 




]\Irs. David B. Parker 



MARSHAL FOR VIRGINIA 177 

" Stop ! Now, Carter, remember your failings. 
When you get up here and introduce that young lady, 
beautiful as she is, don't you dare introduce her as 
your daughter." 

But Carter advanced, and General Sherman took the 
daughter by both hands and said : 

" I know who you are, but I will have to think a 
little before I can tell your name." Then he spoke to 
the people around and said, " I have held this young 
lady on my knee when she was a baby, a little girl out 
West; and this old fellow is one of the oldest friends 
I have got in the world. When I reported as a Lieu- 
tenant in Florida, he was a post-trader and he has 
been a post-trader ever since. Why, he is the oldest 
fellow ! He was an old fellow when the Rocky 
Mountains were heaved up, and he has lived there ever 
since." 

" Now, General," remonstrated his victim, " you 
know you are as old as I am." 

"Get out!" said the General; "why, your house 
was a refuge for me when I was a little boy, just away 
from home, sighing for something good to eat, and I 
always got it at your house. This is Judge Carter of 
Carter, Wyoming. He has the finest ranch in the 
Western Country, and he supplies all the troops at Fort 
Bridger and everywhere else, I guess, with everything 
they need. Why have n't you been in to see me. 
Carter?" 

" I called to-day," answered the Judge, " but you 
were out, and I told your officers that I would come 
in to-morrow." 

" Now," said Sherman, " I bet you got this daughter 
on here to buy her a trousseau." 

" That 's right." 



178 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

" Well, she has been raised at a fort, and I hope she 
marries an army officer." 

The young lady was blushing, but the father said 
she was to marry an army officer. 

" How many sons-in-law does that give you that are 
army officers ? Five ? " 

Judge Carter told him how many, and General Sher- 
man said, " Well, I will have a good visit with both of 
you before you go back." 

A little later a young Second Lieutenant came for- 
ward who had what anyone could see was a bride on 
his arm. General Sherman stepped forward and shook 
hands with him and said : 

"Lieutenant, where do you belong?" 

He told his regiment in Arizona. 

" Oh, yes. Now you have introduced this lady as 
your wife, how long has she really been your wife? " 

" We were married yesterday in Pennsylvania." 

" That 's what I thought. How long have you been 
in the army? " 

" I was appointed from the volunteer service, sir. I 
am not a West Pointer." 

" Oh, yes ; well, that 's fine. Now you have got to 
give up this bride for a while. You might as well get 
used to it " ; and General Sherman gave her his arm 
and called his daughter to take the Lieutenant. So he 
escorted that country bride in to supper, and his daugh- 
ter accompanied the Lieutenant. Mrs. Sherman was 
as easy and genial as the General himself, and both 
seemed popular with everyone. 

While I was Marshal I received an execution to sell 
a quantity of smoking tobacco which was in a bonded 
warehouse and had been offered for sale several times, 
but which would not bring the amount of the tax, and 



MARSHAL FOR VIRGINIA 179 

consequently could not be delivered. This was worth- 
less tobacco that had been manufactured to substitute 
for a like quantity of good tobacco which was ab- 
stracted from the bonded warehouse during the riot of 
corruption which prevailed in the Internal Revenue 
Department about 1868. I offered the tobacco for sale 
after advertisement, but no one would bid the amount 
of the tax, and I was told that it could only be used 
as a fertilizer or shipped to the West where sheep were 
dipped in cheap tobacco. I received a letter from 
Alfred Pleasanton, Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 
instructing me to offer this tobacco for sale and sell it 
to the highest bidder, purchase the necessary tobacco 
stamps from the Collector of Internal Revenue and 
affix them, and deliver the tobacco to the purchaser, 
crediting on the amount paid for the stamps whatever 
amount was received from the sale. The large storage 
bills that were paid were given as the excuse for making 
this disposition of the tobacco. I questioned the au- 
thority of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue to in- 
struct me to expend judiciary funds for such a purpose. 
The First Comptroller's opinion was final in auditing 
the accounts of United States Marshals; so I sent the 
letter to the First Comptroller at Washington, and 
asked for instructions and information as to whether 
the expenditure would be allowed in my accounts if 
made. The Comptroller, who was named R. W. 
Taylor, really did comptrol. The expenditures of all 
the Executive Departments were kept within law by 
him, and he was considered the watch-dog of the Treas- 
ury and was most highly respected. My letter, how- 
ever, was answered by William Hemphill Jones, Acting 
First Comptroller, and I was told that the matter was 
discussed before the Commissioner of Internal Rev- 



i8o A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

enue wrote the letter, and that this course was decided 
upon as best, and therefore I could make the disburse- 
ment, and the amount, when approved by the Judge, 
would be allowed in my accounts. Of course, I pro- 
ceeded then to execute the order and placed the amount, 
which I remember was about $800, in my next account. 
The item, however, was disallowed by the First Comp- 
troller. I placed it in the next account I rendered and 
then gave a letter of explanation. I at once received 
a reply from Comptroller Taylor saying that the allow- 
ance was not authorized by law and would not be 
passed at his office, and that I was forbidden to include 
it in my accounts. I placed it in the next account again 
without explanation, but when I happened soon after 
to be in Washington and visiting his office, the chief 
clerk asked me to go in and see Mr. Taylor about that 
tobacco item. Mr. Taylor assumed a very severe air 
and said : 

" What do you mean by placing that illegal item in 
your accounts after it has been disallowed and you 
have been ordered not to place it in the accounts? " 

" Mr. Taylor," I answered, " I made that disburse- 
ment doubting the law, but with the full authority of 
the First Comptroller of the Treasury. Therefore I 
expect it will be allowed, and I shall continue to ren- 
der it until my final accounting." 

" You had not the authority of the First Comp- 
troller." 

" Was not the Acting First Comptroller of the 
Treasury designated by the President of the United 
States to act as First Comptroller while you were ab- 
sent on your vacation? " I asked. 

He made no reply, but said, " I have held this office 
since 1861, and I have never authorized a single viola- 



MARSHAL FOR VIRGINIA i8i 

tion of law. My friends insisted on my taking a vaca- 
tion, and when I came back I found such cases of mis- 
takes as this in the office." 

" I am very sorry, Mr. Taylor," said I, " but I cer- 
tainly took every precaution. I wrote this office be- 
fore making the disbursement." 

" Say no more about it, it will be allowed." 

His chief clerk took a walk with me and told me that 
this worried the Comptroller almost as much as the 
Supreme Court case. I asked him what the Supreme 
Court case was. He said that the Marshal of the Su- 
preme Court of the United States had in his accounts 
the hire of some men to take care of one of the Justices 
who was paralyzed, and the Comptroller struck out the 
items. He received a message to call at the Supreme 
Court, and went up there and was taken into the con- 
sultation room where the Judges were. The Chief 
Justice said to him : 

" Mr. Taylor, you cannot stifle the Supreme Court 
of the United States. One of our members being in- 
capacitated from helping himself to attend our session, 
but otherwise capacitated, hired the necessary attend- 
ants to assist him, and the item must be paid." 

" But such expenditures are not in the statutes," re- 
monstrated the Comptroller. 

"Mr. Taylor," said the Chief Justice, "the time 
may come when Congress may fail to appropriate any 
money for the Supreme Court and its expenses. Do 
you think the Supreme Court would dissolve and per- 
mit chaos to come upon our Government? No. It 
would proceed to the Treasury of the United States, 
and it would take from its vaults the money that it 
needs for its support. Congress may, at some time, 
fail to make necessary appropriation to enable the 



i82 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

members of this Court to hold its sessions, but this 
Court will see that the means are provided. You pass 
the item and such similar items as appear approved in 
the Marshal's accounts." 

Mr. Taylor returned to his office and said to the 
chief clerk, " Add up the columns in the Supreme 
Court accounts, and don't question the purchase of 
brick houses or anything else." 

There was a very large amount of bankruptcy busi- 
ness transacted in the United States Courts in those 
days, and there were also very many ante-bellum suits 
brought to the United States Court for adjudication, 
so that members of the bar from the entire State came 
to Richmond to try these cases. I recall the present 
Senator Daniel, a very handsome young man, lame 
from a wound received while in the Confederate army, 
and a brilliant pleader. He was called Major Daniel. 
Colonel John S. Mosby came from Warrington and 
appeared very modestly in the Court with cases he had. 
He was a very quiet, unassuming gentleman, with a 
very strong face and wiry, active body. The old Vir- 
ginia colonial families were represented at the bar by 
such names as Barksdale, Randolph, Harrison, Henry 
(grandson of Patrick Henry), Aylett, Gilmer, Wick- 
ham, Allen, Conrad, Floyd, Rives, Wise, Mauvey, 
Page, and others. I became well acquainted with ex- 
Governor Henry A. Wise, who was very approachable 
and kindly. He seemed to have many cases that it 
could be plainly seen would not pay the attorney very 
well, but which were efforts to secure redress from 
wrongs. He even went into the lower courts and de- 
fended negro clients, when he thought injustice was 
being done. He was a grim-looking old veteran, angu- 
lar and raw-boned, but a striking orator of the old- 



MARSHAL FOR VIRGINIA 183 

fashioned sort. Added to his long- political career, he 
served during the entire war in command of a brigade, 
and was nearest to General Lee's person when the final 
surrender took place. I heard him speak quite freely 
concerning his part in the capture and execution of 
John Brown, and he spoke of Brown as a misguided 
but honest fanatic, and said he was a very brave man. 
His son, John S. Wise, now of New York, practiced 
law with his father at Richmond and was a popular 
young lawyer. Incidents affecting many who had been 
prominent in Virginia's history were often repeated 
by elderly persons with whom I became acquainted. 
I remember staying a few days at Callahan's, a resort 
in the mountains among the springs, and the old pro- 
prietor, named Dickson, told me of some visits of dis- 
tinguished persons. He said that one day John Ran- 
dolph of Roanoke came to his house in his carriage 
with a coachman and one servant. Randolph's wizened 
face and shrill voice were very striking, and he was 
heavily wrapped up and had on the front seat of the 
carriage the famous case of pistols he always carried. 
He was given a room and had a fire built immediately, 
although the weather was warm, and had his meals 
served in his room, and declined to go to the parlors 
in the evening and meet the guests of the house. In 
the morning he departed. As he got into his carriage, 
Mr. Dickson inquired where he was going, and Mr. 
Randolph replied, " I am going where I damn please." 
Near the house the road passed through a small stream, 
on the other side of which it forked, going in three 
directions. A very old signboard was up giving the 
directions to various resorts in the mountains, but the 
servants could not read it, and Mr. Randolph tried, 
and it was so dim he could not make it out, so he called 



i84 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

back to the hotel, " Dickson ! Dickson ! Which road 
do I take to the Warm Sweet Springs ? " Dickson 
repHed, " Take either road you damn please," imitat- 
ing Randolph's voice. The carriage at once turned and 
came back, and the gentlemen on the porch said, " Dick- 
son, you better run. He will have those pistols out." 
But when the carriage drove up, Mr. Randolph said, 
" Dickson, I guess I will stay with you over Sunday. 
Give me the same room," and he mixed amiably with 
the guests and tried in every way to make himself 
agreeable. 

A prominent lawyer told me one day that he was 
Chairman of the Committee on Entertainment when 
Daniel Webster came to Richmond to deliver his very 
great speech in the fifties, and that he went out as far 
as Ashland, sixteen miles, with the Committee to meet 
him. After they had been introduced, Webster said, 
"Have you got any brandy? Mine is exhausted." 
They found a flask that a passenger had, and Webster 
drank from it. On arrival at Richmond they took him 
to the Ballard Hotel and went with him to his room, 
and the landlord inquired what would be wanted. Mr. 
Webster said, " Bring me a bottle of your best brandy," 
and drank from it constantly until the time of going 
to the meeting. Democratic and Whig politics were 
running very high, and the question of extension of 
slavery in the Territories, and the bearing of the Con- 
stitution of the United States on slavery, were all re- 
ceiving the highest consideration from the people, and 
Mr. Webster had been secured to make a great pres- 
entation of the Whig side. When the time for the 
meeting came, they took him to the State Capitol, and 
he was to speak from the Senate porch to an immense 
crowd which had gathered below him. There is no 



MARSHAL FOR VIRGINIA 185 

railing around this porch, and a fall would mean ten 
or twelve feet. Mr. Webster's legs were very unsteady, 
and a table was set well back from the edge, and the 
Chainnan of the Meeting and Committees, etc., occu- 
pied seats. Mr. Webster, before stepping out from the 
Senate Chamber on to the porch, looked in different 
directions. He said, " Move that table to the edge of 
the porch. Take that glass pitcher of water and the 
glass from that table. Someone go and get an earthen 
pitcher or mug and have in the pitcher brandy and 
w^ater, strong. Now, one of you take me by the arm 
on either side and start your band of music. March 
me forward to the table. Have no speech of presen- 
tation." The gentleman told me that they walked for- 
ward with him to the table, and the crowd commenced 
cheering, and the presiding officer simply said, " Mr. 
Webster." Mr. Webster, when they let go his arms, 
got both hands on the table and commenced that great 
address, lasting two hours, without fault or hitch, said 
to be the greatest speech of his lifetime. 

A very old gentleman told me that William Wirt, 
Attorney General of the United States, who prose- 
cuted Aaron Burr for treason, was a very brilliant 
and highly beloved young man, but that he had an un- 
controllable appetite for liquor; that he courted a 
young lady and became engaged to her, but became so 
besotted that she cast him off, telling him, however, 
that if he would reform she would be glad to receive 
him again. After this he became worse than ever, and 
one summer's evening when the young people walked 
out Franklin Street, their usual walk, Wirt was seen 
lying in front of a low groggery in the suburbs, cov- 
ered with flies and presenting a disgusting appearance. 
The young lady to whom he had been engaged was of 



i86 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

the party, and there were jeers on the part of some of 
her companions. She separated from them at once, 
and went back and hfted bodily Mr. Wirt and drew 
him to a place under a tree, where she left him with his 
face covered with a lace handkerchief bearing her 
name. It was said that Wirt, when he regained con- 
sciousness, found the handkerchief, walked immedi- 
ately out of the city and stayed a time with some rela- 
tives in the country, and then returned to resume his 
practice of law, and never afterwards drank a drop of 
liquor. He married the young lady. 

I occupied for a time a part of the house owned by 
Mrs. Allan, the family being known as Scotch Allan, 
one of the wealthy old families of Richmond. Mrs. 
Allan was alone in a very large house, and I rented a 
part of it. Her husband had raised Edgar Allan Poe. 
Mrs. Allan told of the great brilliancy but the weak- 
nesses of Poe; that he was very loving in disposition, 
but perfectly uncontrollable in his habits. 

The colored people at that time felt a keen interest 
in education and politics, were generally industrious, 
and making the best of their opportunities. Appar- 
ently but few could read or write. Occasionally one, 
as was the case of a barber in Richmond, was a schol- 
arly man. He had pursued his studies in the rear of 
his shop with books which a gentleman brought him 
from the libraries, and was said to be a fine Greek 
student. There were some of the old-time colored 
preachers whose sermons were almost ludicrous at 
times. Rev. John Jasper, who preached the sermon 
that a newspaper man made famous, " The Sun Do 
Move," was one of them. I attended his service one 
evening with a gentleman from Detroit, who was visit- 
ing me, and who wished to hear one of the old-style 



MARSHAL FOR VIRGINIA 187 

colored preachers. When we entered the church, we 
were shown with deference to seats, rough wooden 
benches without backs, but we were disappointed be- 
cause a white man, an exhorter who had accompanied 
a Baptist revivahst from the North, conducted the 
services. He exhorted sincerely, but was not an edu- 
cated preacher, and had no effect whatever upon the 
congregation. After he had preached three quarters 
of an hour, Mr. Jasper arose, and putting on a second 
pair of spectacles, reached his long bony arm over the 
pulpit and said, " I done fergit that I was to make 
some 'marks to the frens of little John Henry Jackson, 
who was buried Tuesday evening." He then pro- 
ceeded to speak to those friends and mourners. He 
used language that was incomprehensible because it 
was made up of high-sounding words that were not 
words. They resembled words that he had heard, and 
were used without regard to meaning or arrangement, 
but his voice was magnetic and sympathetic, and he 
constantly waved his long arms to those seated in front 
of him. In five minutes he had people in what was 
called " the power " all over that church, shrieking 
and exclaiming, " Bress de Lawd," and falling back 
on their seats in apparently a faint. He continued 
about fifteen minutes, and I think that more than fifty 
people were rising and screaming in the audience. 
Most of the colored churches, however, had educated 
preachers and large audiences. 

I attended two or three political meetings that were 
addressed by colored men. One elderly man, who was 
a great exhorter and political speaker, swayed the 
crowd by his eloquence and addressed them on the sub- 
ject of " Taxation to Maintain Schools." It was at 
Charlotte Court House, and a large part of the audi- 



i88 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

ence was white. John Robinson was the speaker, and 
he said, in part : 

" I understand that the voters, and especially the 
colored voters of this old county of Charlotte, my 
county, are thinking of voting against raising taxes 
to maintain schools; and I came back here to my old 
county to plead with you. I don't believe the report. 
I can't believe that the colored men of old Charlotte 
will sell their birthright for a miserable passel of par- 
tridges. I remember when I was a boy, a slave, living 
in your family. Colonel [pointing to an elderly gentle- 
man sitting near], that there used to be talk about the 
importance of raising money to send Massa Jack to 
the Varsity and the young Missus away to school, and 
you, kind-hearted old massa, did n't like to sell nobody, 
never did like to sell nobody, but Missus she say the 
money must be raised, and you say the commission 
merchant in Richmond won't advance any more money 
on the crops, so you think it over, and you keep think- 
ing it over, and then you decide that that boy Dick is 
a no-'count nigger; that he is the good-for-nothingest, 
dirtiest no-'count boy in the country, and you might 
as well sell him; and then next court week Sheriff 
Snyder he get up on the box, and he say, ' Gentlemen, 
I wish to call your attention to a fine boy to be sold, 
Richard, offered by the Colonel. The fact that he 
is raised by the Colonel is sufficient guarantee that 
Richard is a prime article. How much am I offered 
for Richard ? ' So Dick is sold, and the money is sent 
to educate your boys and your girls, and now we think 
it is not too much for you to pay some little tax to 
raise money to support common schools for poor people, 
white and black." 

His argument was well received by white and black. 



MARSHAL FOR VIRGINIA 189 

He was a powerful speaker on any subject among his 
color, and I heard him say that he got to be a black- 
smith and was sold for the highest price ever paid for 
a colored man in that county, $1950, and bought and 
paid for his own liberty before the war would have 
given it to him. At that time colored people remained 
in the country and did not flock to the cities as they are 
doing now. 

When I was a boy, a noted Baptist preacher named 
Rathbone was a friend of my father, who was a Bap- 
tist, and I often heard Mr. Rathbone preach. When I 
was living in Richmond, he came to me bearing a letter 
from my father, and said that he had come down t<y 
attend the church dedication of an African Baptist 
Church, whose pastor he had known many years be- 
fore. I entcitained Mr. Rathbone at my house. His 
voice was very sonorous and loud, and as he insisted 
on sitting in the open window in the evening, his dis- 
cussion of the question of slavery was heard by all the 
neighbors, and I was reminded of the fact by my 
friends on either side afterwards. One of them, a 
lawyer, said that he had never heard the extreme 
Northern abolition sentiment expressed before, and 
that it was very interesting. Mr. Rathbone told me 
that in the fifties a runaway slave was taken from the 
custody of the officers on Main Street in the village of 
Jamestown, Chautauqua County. The boy had been 
arrested in the neighboring town of Sugargrove near 
the State line, where he had stopped with a farmer 
blacksmith. The blacksmith hurried ahead of the offi- 
cers, and informed abolitionists at Jamestown that the 
arrest really took place in the blacksmith shop, which 
was across the line in the State of Pennsylvania, and 
that therefore the boy was not legally arrested by a 



igo A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

New York warrant. The abolitionists got together 
and took him away from the officers and to Elder Rath- 
bone's house and into the Baptist parsonage. The 
Elder sat on his porch with a heavily loaded musket, 
and warned the crowd that he would shoot the first 
man that came in the gate. He held them at bay until 
darkness came. Then he parleyed, and it was finally 
suggested that the boy should be taken back where he 
was arrested, across the line into Pennsylvania, and 
be left there, and that his pursuers would proceed 
against him in Pennsylvania or not at all. Mr. Rath- 
bone said he would go and consult the fugitive, if they 
would promise not to enter the gate. They promised. 
In the mean while he had given his daughter whispered 
directions through the window at his back, and he ran 
through his house to his connecting stable, where one 
of the best horses in the county was harnessed to a 
wagon with the colored boy in it. Rathbone jumped 
in and drove out and over the hill toward Dunkirk, 
and on until he crossed Suspension Bridge into Canada. 
Some Baptist people in Canada then took the boy in 
hand, and Elder Rathbone took up collections in his 
church for him, and the boy, who was very bright, was 
given an education. At the close of the war he was a 
well-equipped Baptist preacher, and he it was who had 
settled in Richmond and was dedicating a new church 
edifice. 

One day a colored man who kept a hotel for colored 
people brought another colored man to my office. I 
knew the landlord slightly, and he said that he did not 
want anyone to know the story they were to tell, but 
wanted my advice as to what was proper for his friend 
to do. The other man said that he and his wife had 
come from Alabama to visit their old home in Prince 



MARSHAL FOR VIRGINIA 191 

Edward County ; that he was a blacksmith with a good 
business in an Alabama town, and that a couple of 
years before he had married a woman fifteen years 
older than himself, living in the neighborhood, and 
they had lived happily together. He knew that he 
originally came, when a boy, from Prince Edward 
County, Virginia, and his wife also came from the 
same county. She had been presented by her mistress 
to a daughter living in Alabama before the war. 
When they came to visit Prince Edward County and 
hunted up their old relatives, it was found that he was 
sold with a number of slaves to go to Alabama when 
he was a small boy and that he was undoubtedly the 
son of his present wife. They had come into Rich- 
mond to this hotel, and his plan was to leave his wife 
there and send her means for support while he re- 
turned at once to Alabama. The situation had become 
somewhat known in the neighborhood where they had 
been visiting and had discovered their relationship, 
and he wanted to know if either his mother or himself 
were amenable to law and could be arrested. I told 
him I thought he had made the best plan possible, and 
he thanked me and they went away. 

The landlord told me that he never saw such suffer- 
ing as those two people seemed to feel. The son went 
back to Alabama, and his mother secured employment 
with a Northern family and went North. 

There is no doubt that the slaves were treated hu- 
manely as a general thing, except for the separation 
of families ; and I seldom heard aught but kind words 
spoken of each other by old owners and late slaves. 

Congress passed a law creating a Western District 
in Virginia, and providing that the Judge and officers 
of the District of Virginia should remain as officers of 



192 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

the Eastern District, so for the balance of my service 
I had a smaller district and much less business. I was 
reappointed at the end of four years, and two years 
later decided that I would resign the office, and after 
attending to some private business for a while, would 
take steps as to future employment. I accordingly 
called upon President Grant and told him that I in- 
tended to resign in the spring. 

" Don't tell anyone," said he, " but find some person 
whom you can recommend, and who can be confirmed 
by the Senate and will give satisfaction to all of the 
warring factions in Virginia. They come here in dele- 
gations whenever there is a vacancy down there, and 
there is so much striving that I shall be glad to avoid it." 

" It may be very difficult to find a man filling all 
those requirements." 

*' Well, that 's what I am expected to do every time," 
said the President. " Let 's see what success you 
have." 

I kept the matter secret, and when I decided to pre- 
sent my resignation I carried it to General Grant and 
said: 

"If you will appoint Charles P. Ramsdell Marshal 
of the Eastern District of Virginia, I think he will 
come pretty near filling the requirements in every way. 
He has not asked for this or any other office, and I 
have not spoken to him regarding this appointment, 
but I know from a remark he made to me once that he 
would be sure to accept. I have no doubt but that he 
would be confirmed by the Senate, and that his ap- 
pointment will give satisfaction in Virginia." 

" It is a very bad name," said the President. 

" Yes," I replied, " he is the brother of the very 
bad man," alluding to the newspaper man Ramsdell 



MARSHAL FOR VIRGINIA 193 

who had so fiercely attacked General Grant in the 
" New York Tribune " and had sought to impugn his 
honesty and character, and who, when called before a 
Senate Committee of investigation, refused to give the 
names of his witnesses or any evidence whatever, 
whereupon he was committed to jail for a term for 
contempt. I explained that the one living in Virginia 
came there at the close of the war with a colony which 
he headed, and which Horace Greeley had aided him 
to raise in Pennsylvania; that he still had his farm in 
that colony, and that he published an agricultural 
newspaper which was well received throughout Vir- 
ginia; that he had refused to accept office, but ran on 
the Republican ticket for elector-at-large in '72 and 
received the largest vote. His friendship for his old 
friend Greeley was not sufficient to draw him away 
from the Republican party. This all pleased General 
Grant, who said he would appoint him at once and 
send his name to the Senate. I went to Richmond that 
night, and in the morning saw in the newspapers the 
telegram announcing the appointment of Charles P. 
Ramsdell United States Marshal for the Eastern Dis- 
trict of Virginia, vice D. B. Parker; with no explana- 
tion whether I had resigned or had been removed. In 
a little time I received a telegram from Ramsdell, 
saying : 

" From the morning newspapers I see I am ap- 
pointed United States Marshal in your place. I will 
not accept the office at your expense, and will join with 
your friends in going to Washington at once to protest 
against your removal. Answer." 

I answered that I had resigned in his favor, and he 
came to Richmond, was duly commissioned, assumed 
the office and occupied it until his death, seven or eight 



194 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

years later. My reason for thinking that he would 
take the office was that I had once traveled several 
hours with him on the cars, and he had spoken of Fed- 
eral positions, several of which had been offered to him, 
and had said smilingly, " You have the only office that 
would be attractive to me. I could still be a farmer 
and a newspaper editor and hold it," and had laughed 
about it. It was very gratifying to know that I had 
resigned in favor of a true man. 




Postmaster General Key and Chief Officers of the Department 
Mr. Theodore N. \'ail is in lower right-hand corner. Mr. Parker is in lower left-hand corner 



CHAPTER VI 

POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 

Part I 

AFTER attending to some private business for a 
while I was asked to re-enter the Post-Office De- 
partment and did so. Postmaster General Jewell, 
whom I did not know, telegraphed me to come to 
Washington, and when I presented myself said : 

" There is a delicate matter of business in the South- 
west which I laid before the President and asked him 
to indicate what should be done, and he told me that 
if we had an Inspector in whom we reposed perfect 
confidence he would like to have him investigate the 
charges fully and without favor at once. And the 
President added that there used to be a man in our 
Department whom he thought we could probably get, 
if only temporarily, whom he would like to have take 
this matter in hand, and he gave me your name." 

What was called " the conspiracy against General 
Grant " on the part of Secretary Bristow of the Treas- 
ury, Bluford Wilson, and others, had just become 
known, and it was said that the Postmaster General 
was somewhat in sympathy w^itli it, which was not 
true; hence the anxiety of the Postmaster General to 
have a matter in which the President's brother-in-law's 
name had been mentioned handled delicately. The 
charge was that there was great swindling in the Post- 



196 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

Office Department, in the transportation of mails from 
New Orleans up the rivers in Louisiana to Shreveport 
and elsewhere, and that the Collector of the Port of 
New Orleans, James Casey, who was General Grant's 
brother-in-law, was involved in some way. As soon 
as I had received an outline of the case, I suggested to 
the Postmaster General and the Chief Post-Office In- 
spector that no papers be referred to me and that no 
one be told that I had been assigned to the case, and 
said that I would get out of the Department as soon 
as I could and not be seen about there again, but that 
I would proceed with the matter from memoranda that 
I could prepare. The Railway Mail Service at that 
time was placing capable men of their own in the large 
post-offices to superintend the making up of mails for 
the railroads, but they had not placed one in New 
Orleans, so I decided that an employee of the Railway 
Mail Service, whom I knew well, should be sent from 
Chattanooga to the New Orleans post-office. He w^as 
thoroughly trustworthy, and was informed that he 
might be called upon by me later and not to mention 
me in any way. I was also given the names of some 
prominent men in New Orleans who were sponsors for 
the charges that had been made. One was the Presi- 
dent of the Chamber of Commerce and President of a 
large bank, another one was the head of the Morgan 
line of steamships and railroads, Mr. Hutchinson, and 
a third was Captain Thomas Leathers, the famous 
Mississippi River steamboat captain, who had told 
these New Orleans gentlemen of the existence of the 
frauds, and they had communicated the matter to the 
Postmaster General. I did not go to the Department 
again, but returned to New York. A couple of days 
later I passed through Washington and traveled South. 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 197 

In the sleeping-car was a prominent politician from 
Louisiana, who lived in Washington, with whom I be- 
came well acquainted in a very short time. I let out 
the fact that I had, many years before, been connected 
with the Post-Office Department and knew something 
of its workings. He told me that it was a good thing 
I was not there now, and that he did not believe the 
Department was what it used to be; that he had an 
intimate friend who was a mail contractor down on 
the lower Mississippi; that he understood somebody 
was trying to make trouble for his friend, and the De- 
partment was going to send an Inspector down there 
to overhaul it, and that he was going down to look 
after his friend's interests. We made the entire 
journey together. At Montgomery we were delayed 
two days for repairs to the railroad, and were together 
all the time and even attended a minstrel show. We 
did not separate until we reached New Orleans, when 
I went about my business and he went to look out for 
his friend's interests and see that no harm came to him. 
Before leaving Washington I had learned that an In- 
spector who bore a reputation for being quite a showy 
man was in Texas and about to return, and I had sug- 
gested that they stop him in New Orleans to await 
orders and let him stay there a week or two. This was 
done. I went quietly to an obscure hotel and sent for 
the Superintendent of Mails in the Post-Office, and 
commenced to get the information that I wished. In 
the mean time I heard that the showy Inspector was 
being handsomely entertained daily by the people there 
who were concerned in looking after a post-office in- 
spector. I found that a long route up the Mississippi 
to Red River Landing and then up the Red River to 
Shreveport and Alexandria, and for which high pay 



198 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

was paid for daily service, really had no existence what- 
ever. There were no steamboats running to Red River 
Landing, and there were no stages running from Red 
River Landing to Shreveport and Alexandria. A 
mail was taken from the New Orleans post-office daily 
by a man who carried it to the wharf and there made 
any arrangement he could with any steamboat that 
might be going up the river, slow or fast, freight or 
passenger, to carry the bag to Red River Landing and 
throw it off. Some days, and for several days together, 
there might be no boat. On such occasions the wagon 
that had taken the mail from the post-office took it to 
a place where it was kept until the next day, when it 
was taken out again and added to the fresh mail from 
the post-office and another effort made to send it. Of 
course, the mails were not placed upon the mail 
steamers of the Mississippi that ran to Vicksburg and 
Baton Rouge, but were supposed, at the Department, 
to be carried by a steamboat line that ran between 
New Orleans and Red River, and pictures of boats 
and hand-bills with times of arrival and departure, etc., 
were on file in the Department. Some of the tramp 
steamers that had taken the mail had failed to receive 
their pay, and their talk about it had first drawn the 
attention of Captain Leathers. At Red River Land- 
ing there was nothing but a wharf boat, but the man 
on the wharf boat had been appointed postmaster, and 
he kept a book of arrivals and departures of the mail 
from New Orleans which showed its arrival and its 
departure for Shreveport on schedule time. A two- 
horse stage was started daily from Red River Landing 
and drove out a short distance and back again. Then 
the mail was carried by horseback or placed on chance 
steamers that were going up the river, and in some way 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 199 

taken to Shreveport and Alexandria, and an execrable 
service was the result; but all the postmasters at the 
points named were in the conspiracy and reported all 
arrivals and departures on time. I went up on a 
steamer with which I made an arrangement to put me 
off at Red River Landing, and went far enough up the 
road to get the information as to that part of it. Then 
I followed out the intimation that the Collector of the 
Port of New Orleans was in the swindle, and found 
the only foundation for that allegation was the fact 
that he had received a fine new overcoat from the con- 
tractor who was perpetrating the swindle. I then 
found that once when the Collector was traveling 
North his overcoat was taken from the sleeping-car, 
and he later discovered that this mail contractor had 
taken it by mistake and had sent it by a messenger to 
the station in Washington with instructions to restore 
it to its owner in exchange for his own. When the 
contractor found that he had carried off Mr. Casey's 
overcoat, he had a new one made and sent to Collector 
Casey. That was the sum and substance of the foun- 
dation of the charge that he was implicated with the 
mail contractor in swindling the Government. He had 
no relations whatever with the mail contractor. The 
postmaster at New Orleans was removed, and the mail 
contractor was fined and pay suspended on some or all 
of his routes, which amounted, in all, to over $40,000. 
I have never heard that he had any of this fine re- 
mitted, but experience in Washington has taught me 
that such claims generally find their way into the hands 
of a persistent Claim Agent who, by Act of Congress 
or otherwise, obtains some part of the money that has 
been withheld by any of the Departments. 

I was next asked to go to California, the Depart- 



200 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

ment having much trouble there with mail service; so 
I remained in the Post-Office Department. I went to 
California in the winter of '7S~7^- Before going I 
was informed at the Post-Office Department that at 
several of the largest post-offices on the coast there 
were derelict postmasters, who were believed to be in 
default, and that settlements could not be secured from 
them nor satisfaction obtained from reports by the 
Inspectors. Senator Sargent of California, Mitchell 
of Oregon, and several Members of Congress, it was 
claimed at the Post-Office Department, prevented all 
action in the way of disciplining postmasters on the 
Pacific Coast. After studying the situation I suggested 
that President Grant speak to Senator Sargent, who 
was his friend, about my going, and that I would then 
see Senator Sargent before I went. The President did 
so, and I told Senator Sargent frankly my business, and 
that I did not want to go out there and make trouble in 
politics or otherwise, nor did I want to have trouble 
in correcting evils that might exist. This I did against 
the judgment of the Postmaster General, but without 
his positive disapproval. Senator Sargent was really 
an upright man in every respect. I did not treat Sena- 
tor Mitchell of Oregon with the same confidence. The 
worst case in California was the postmaster at Stock- 
ton, who had been postmaster since '6i, succeeding 
himself, and who, it was believed by the Department, 
was a number of thousand dollars in arrears. The 
Money Order Superintendent also thought that he was 
a number of thousand dollars behind in his accounts 
for the Money Order service. All examinations of his 
office, however, had always disclosed all needed funds. 
After I had been in San Francisco a little time and had 
made some acquaintances and had found that the Post 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 201 

Office Inspector there, whenever ne had received orders 
from the Department to examine the Stockton post- 
office, had always gone openly and made the examina- 
tion, I arranged with the General Manager of the rail- 
road, Towne, to go with him at an unusual time to 
Stockton. He said that he thought within a few days 
he would be going up the road very early in the morn- 
ing, and he would take me on his special car. I joined 
him, got off at Stockton at a very early hour, and was 
at the post-office at the time of opening. I told the 
postmaster who I was, and he wanted to know how I 
got there. I told him I came up with General Manager 
Towne. Then he asked me to excuse him for a short 
time while he attended to his duties, but I said : 

" The first thing we will do will be to count your 
stamps, and you will please not leave me a second." 
We counted the stamps in the office, and also the 
funds. 

" Now," I said, " as soon as the bank opens we will 
go to the bank, and you must not go ahead of me or 
send any messenger, and I will see what funds you 
really have on deposit." 

" Well," he said, '* we won't need to go. The jig 
is up." 

" Is it about $13,000? " I asked. 

" Yes," he replied, " that 's about the figure. You 
know how we came to get behind out here on the Pacific 
Coast, don't you? " 

The fact was that during the war the Western post- 
masters were paid on the basis of Eastern greenbacks, 
but no greenbacks circulated on the Pacific Coast. The 
expenses that they paid out for clerk hire or for their 
own salaries had to be paid in gold. Brokers kept the 
greenbacks to sell to people wanting stamps, so that 



202 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

people bought all their postage stamps with greenbacks, 
but the postmaster was obliged to pay clerks in gold, 
the difference reaching four to one at one time. Bills 
had been offered in Congress, but had never succeeded 
in getting through, for the relief of these postmasters. 
This one at Stockton was one of the victims, but the 
total did not amount to nearly his present defalcation. 
He had perjured himself, of course, with every report, 
and also every time that he had turned over to him- 
self on reappointment; and his money order accounts 
were dishonestly rendered in that he had borrowed 
from the bank whenever required to make a showing 
and then had taken from the funds enough to replace 
the amount. Money orders were not sent to California 
from the East very much, but they were purchased 
from the post-offices there, payable in the East, so Cali- 
fornia offices had large money order funds to remit. 
This postmaster was Chairman of the Republican State 
Committee and a very useful citizen in every way. His 
bondsmen were the best men in the city of Stockton, 
and he was personally very popular. 

" Well," he said, " what are you going to do about 
it?" 

" First," I said, " we will have your bondsmen make 
the amount entirely good, placing the money in the 
bank, and I will see that it is transmitted to-day to San 
Francisco. They would be bound to do that anyway, 
and probably they are men who could raise the money 
as well to-day as any day." 

" I have no doubt," he said, " they will respond with 
it at once," and they raised the money with Western 
generosity and it was placed in the bank in a few hours. 
Then I told him he must resign the office; that there 
had been too much trickery and false reports, to say 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 203 

nothing" about harsher names. He refused, and said 
he would appeal to his political friends in Washington 
and they would save him. He asked if I proposed to 
arrest him, and I replied that, as all moneys had been 
paid, I did not propose to do so at that stage. I made 
inquiries, however, about different citizens, and found 
that ex-Lieutenant Governor Cavis lived there and was 
a highly esteemed gentleman. I went to him and asked 
him if he would take the post-office if appointed. He 
said he would. Then I telegraphed the Post-Office 
Department and recommended John M. Cavis for post- 
master. The next day's papers contained the dispatch 
that John M. Cavis had been appointed postmaster at 
Stockton and confirmed by the Senate. 

An almost similar experience was at Salem, the 
capital of Oregon. This postmaster really used each 
and every device and scheme that was known at the 
Post-Office Department to have been tried by any 
defaulting postmaster in the United States, even ten 
years later than that. 

I reported to the Department that the city of San 
Francisco ought to be divided into districts and four 
or five branch post-offices established. The post-office 
was located in a Government building that had been 
built near the docks when the city was very small, and 
there were no branch post-offices. I received a tele- 
gram at once, to lay out the city and negotiate for leases 
for the post-offices, and that necessary papers would 
be sent me by mail. I made this public at once, and 
went on a trip to Oregon to be gone a short time. On 
my return I found that the notice had created a great 
hubbub. Washington correspondents of newspapers 
had been instructed to look into it, and the citizens of 
San Francisco were very much exercised about where 



204 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

those offices should be located. Real estate men had or- 
ganized, and I was waited upon at once by a man who 
told me that I could depend upon what he said. 

" The real estate men of San Francisco are organ- 
ized," he announced, " and you must come into the 
arrangement with them as to locating the branch post- 
offices. I will only say to you that if you say that you 
will, you will have smooth sailing and the offices will 
be well placed, but I will also say to you that if you say 
that you will not, you will have very rough weather 
and your official scalp won't be worth the snap of my 
finger. Influence is strong enough to take care that 
the Post-Office Department will be found ready to act 
with us." 

" I will go into no such understanding nor arrange- 
ment," I told him, " but I shall be thorough and map 
the city into the districts that I think it ought to have. 
I will be ready to confer with citizens, real estate men 
or otherwise, from this day out and will ask their co- 
operation, but there can be no arrangement with any 
real estate men or any other men." 

" Prepare to take your medicine," said he, " you will 
get it soon," and departed. That evening an evening 
paper commenced a system of attacks which the paper 
announced would be personal and otherwise on the 
" Eastern fellow who has come and assumed to over- 
ride all local interests, and probably has some secret 
combination with some few property holders to make 
his ' Jack,' as Eastern Federal office-holders have done 
from time immemorial when they have been here." 
The next day I received a message from the managing 
editor of the largest paper in town asking me to meet 
him at lunch. I found he was a very old friend who 
had represented the " New York Herald " in the Army 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 205 

of the Potomac during the whole war. He told me that 
some gentlemen waited on him the day before, and said 
his newspaper must come into line to break this Post- 
Office Inspector who was going to locate branch post- 
offices, and who seemed to be too damned independent 
for anybody, and that he had told them, " I have been 
unusually busy, my proprietor being absent in Europe, 
and have not had time to call upon him, although his 
name has appeared in the paper and I knew he was 
here. He is an old acquaintance of mine, and you are 
barking up the wrong tree. He will make no arrange- 
ments with anybody nor enter into any deal with any- 
body. I tell you now, if you are going to follow out 
such a course as you started in the evening paper, my 
paper will defend him in every way, and it not only will 
do that, but it will assault you and expose you in your 
scheme. Now, you 'd better hold off." There were 
no further criticisms or trouble of any kind. The city 
was districted and leases made, and contracts entered 
into with parties to build suitable offices, and from in- 
formation that I have received since, they all turned 
out to be well located. The principal branch office was 
on Market Street, then out in the sand-hills, and, I 
think, the present main post-office is near it. The City 
Hall was built directly opposite. 

I greatly enjoyed my trip to the Pacific Coast and 
sojourn there. There was but one transcontinental 
line at that time, the Union Pacific to Ogden, and the 
Central Pacific to the coast, and trips across the con- 
tinent were not so frequently made as now. In the 
olden times, when the stages and the steamers carried 
people back and forth, there was great cordiality and 
hospitality displayed whenever a Government official 
visited the coast. This had not been entirely aban- 



2o6 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

doned, and I was therefore the constant recipient of 
courtesies and attentions, which were very agreeable, 
aUhough sometimes a Httle embarrassing. There was 
no railroad running into Oregon, and one had to take 
a steamer from San Francisco to Portland or else a 
stage from Redding, California, to Roseburg, Oregon, 
two hundred and fifty miles over the mountains. There 
were but sixty thousand inhabitants in Oregon, and 
the Territory of Washington had but a few thousand 
and no towns of importance. The salmon fisheries on 
Columbia River were being conducted profitably, and 
agriculture was also very profitable in Oregon. Lum- 
ber was not being shipped away largely, but spars and 
masts were being shipped to every naval country in the 
world. I saw some of the forests of huge fir and cedar 
trees in Oregon and Washington, and it seemed to me 
that the timber would prove almost inexhaustible ; but 
at this writing it has been very largely cut off. Oregon 
was very attractive to me, and on my return I always 
recommended it to any person asking my opinion as 
to the best Western country in which to settle. I had 
some post-office business in Oregon similar to that in 
California. At the State capital, Salem, the postmas- 
ter, as I have said, was derelict, and had had trouble 
with the Department for a long while. I went there 
and registered at the hotel in a manner that did not 
attract attention, and for several days made no ac- 
quaintances beyond the postmaster and his bondsmen. 
The Court of Appeals of the State was in session, and 
I had the prominent judges and lawyers pointed out 
to me. The United States Attorney from Portland 
advised with me as to certain steps to be taken, but I 
visited his room at night in the hotel and was not seen 
with him openly. After the troubles were adjusted 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 207 

and the amount due the Government collected, I sat in 
the office of the hotel in the evening when a large 
gentleman, whom I knew as Judge Strong, said to be 
at the head of the bar in Oregon, came over to me and 
said : 

" Young man, we don't allow strangers to be about 
here many days without knowing who they are and 
where they are from and what their business is. We 
don't have so many strangers but that we want to know 
'all about them. My name is Strong. I am a lawyer 
from Portland and am here attending the Court of 
Appeals. Who are you? " 

" My name is Parker," I replied. " I am from 
Western New York." 

" Western New York? What part? " 

" I was raised in Chautauqua, but my family home is 
in Cattaraugus." 

" Really," said he. " I am from Buffalo. I came 
out here as the first Secretary of the Territory of Ore- 
gon. My brother, Dr. Strong, still lives in Buffalo and 
my relatives live there." About this time he called out 
to another gentleman who came in : 

" Thayer, come over here. Here 's a Chautauqua- 
Cattaraugus boy." 

" Is that so? " said Thayer. " I am from Buffalo. 
I am acquainted in Cattaraugus and Chautauqua. I 
used to know the lawyers." 

" Well," I said, " my wife's father was a lawyer and 
judge, and two uncles are lawyers, and one of them the 
District Attorney in Erie County." 

" Do you mean Torrance ? " 

" Yes, sir." 

" Jerry Torrance was my partner in Buffalo," said 
he, " and I am glad to see you," and he sat down. 



2o8 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

Then the United States Attorney, Mallory, came in, 
and Strong said : 

" Mallory, come over here. Here 's a Western New 
York boy." Mallory walked over and said : 

" I am from Allegany County, from Cuba," and he 
joined the circle. Then another gentleman came in and 
walked over to Judge Strong, who said : 

" Here 's a funny thing. We are all from Western 
New York - - all this crowd," and he introduced him 
to me as Judge Christianson of the Court of Appeals, 
and I said : 

"Judge, don't you remember me?" He looked at 
me and said : 

" It seems to me I have seen you before. Where do 
you think I came from? " 

" You came from Charlottesville, member of the 
Virginia bar. You used to practice in Richmond." 

" You were the Marshal there, I remember you. 
Let me in here," and he sat down; and then another 
gentleman came in, and Strong said : 

" Newbury, you come and sit down with us. We 
are all from Western New York, except the Judge, and 
we are having a love feast. You can't ring in on that, 
of course." 

" What 's the reason I can't ? " said Newbury. 

" I know all about you," Strong replied. " You have 
been in Portland only a year, but we have read about 
you in the papers. You were Mayor of Topeka, Cap- 
tain in a Kansas regiment in the Union army." 

" Well," said Newbury, " Kansas men all came from 
somewhere, and I came from Chautauqua County, 
New York." 

" Did you come from Ripley, Mr. Newbury ? " I 
asked. 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 209 

" Yes." 

" Have you any relatives — ? " 

" Well, well, well, you are of that Parker tribe. 
Well, your mother is my mother's cousin. Let me into 
this, Strong. Let me in." 

" It has gone about far enough," Strong announced. 
" Landlord, put a basket of champagne in that little 
dining-room and we will feast the rest of the night." 
Thayer was the next Governor of Oregon, and New- 
bury the next Mayor of Portland. 

That summer the citizens of San Francisco had 
their own Centennial Celebration. The distance to 
Philadelphia was so great that Pacific Coast people 
could not generally go there, so they had a week's fes- 
tivities at San Francisco to which people came from all 
over the coast. I was in Oregon when the plans were 
made, and on my return found that I had been made 
Secretary of the Committee of One Hundred and As- 
sistant Treasurer of the Committee. They were quite 
likely in those days to add Eastern names, especially 
Government officials, to whatever entertainments were 
projected. I was told that Mr. Flood, the President 
of the Nevada Bank, and a member of the firm of 
Flood, O'Brien, Mackey, and Fair, was asked to take 
the place as Treasurer, and agreed if they would " put 
some young fellow on as assistant to do the work," 
and the postmaster. General Coey, being Chairman of 
the Committee of One Hundred, took the liberty of 
naming me for the place. So I was in for it. Every- 
body entered into the affair with enthusiasm. The 
city was very extensively decorated, and because of the 
fact that rain need not be expected at that season, the 
decorations and arches and all were commenced weeks 
beforehand and remained for weeks afterward. Naval 



210 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

vessels of our Pacific Squadron and those of other 
countries came into the harbor of the Golden Gate and 
participated in various maneuvers, one of which in- 
cluded firing upon an old ship that was prepared for 
the occasion. It was filled with inflammable material, 
and the squadron was expected to set it afire just at 
night-time, and the people were upon the surrounding 
heights by thousands to witness the spectacle; but our 
gunboats could not hit it, at least could not set it afire, 
and some tars had to put off in a small boat and light 
it. The United States troops, the sailors from the 
ships, and the California militia, which was really a 
creditable organization, took part in a sham battle. 
A very interesting feature of the exhibition at the Pre- 
sidio was the Acting Governor of the State, Lieutenant 
Governor Pacheco, with several hundred native Cali- 
fornians from Southern California, upon magnificent 
horses, and clad in the Mexican-Calif ornian dress of 
the long ago, a close-fitting black jacket with the bright 
red sash, the close-fitting trousers that were slashed 
from the knee down and trimmed with gold or silver 
buttons, saddles and bridles heavy with silver, and the 
broad sombrero hats with great silver cords. The 
gentlemen gave exhibitions of horsemanship, and were, 
I think, the handsomest mounted men I ever saw. A 
large ball was given at the Exposition Building, and a 
banquet by the Chamber of Commerce. There were 
festivities and speaking and races going on all the time. 
A fifty-mile race and a hundred-mile race were run 
off, between an American cowboy named Mowry and 
a native Calif ornian from Southern California called 
Smith. Each rider had to change horses at every mile, 
but could have as many horses as he wished, and the 
native California ranchmen had furnished a large band 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 211 

of chosen native horses for Smith to ride. Mowry, 
however, rode selected ranch bronchos, except five 
which were sons and daughters of Norfolk, a thor- 
oughbred racing horse who had been brought from 
the East. It had always been claimed that the native 
American broncho had more endurance than the thor- 
oughbred, but at the last of the hundred-mile race 
Mowry was changing at the end of every mile from 
one of his thoroughbreds to another, and he beat Smith, 
who was a famous champion rider with a fine band of 
selected horses, very easily. 

Greenbacks and silver were at quite a discount at 
that time, and our accounts at the banks were neces- 
sarily kept double, a gold account and a silver account, 
and in making contracts with contractors for supplies, 
arches, decorations, etc., the sub-committees stipulated 
what proportion of the bill should be paid in silver and 
what in gold. The Board of Supervisors who govern 
San Francisco, and sometimes misgovern it to this 
day, appropriated $10,000 for the celebration, and I 
went to the City Treasurer in a cab to get the money. 
The cashier gave me $4000 in gold and $6000 in silver, 
and piled the bags up on the counter. I asked for 
someone to help me get it out to the cab, but he rather 
uncivilly said he had no one who could help me. I had 
the cab placed as close in front of the door as I could, 
and I asked the cashier to at least keep his eye on the 
money while I carried out that gold and silver and 
put it in the cab. I told the driver to drive to the 
Nevada Bank, but we had not gone very far before the 
bottom of the cab dropped out with the weight, and 
the bags all fell to the pavement. I put them on the 
seats the next time, and succeeded in getting them to 
the Nevada Bank, where two stout porters had a 



212 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

barrow, and they piled the bags on the barrow and car- 
ried it into the bank. I gathered enough prejudice 
against silver at that time to last me past Mr. Bryan's 
time. It is most inconvenient stuff to handle in 
quantities. 

I remained on the Pacific Coast until August, about 
eight months, when I was telegraphed to come to Wash- 
ington and take the position of Chief Post-Office 
Inspector. I accepted the appointment and filled the 
position for the next seven years. 

I was placed in charge of the force of Post-Office 
Inspectors, numbering about ninety men, whose head- 
quarters were in the different cities. My predecessor, 
P. H. Woodv/ard, a very able and efficient officer, had 
organized the bureau thoroughly, and the list of In- 
spectors contained many faithful and able men. The 
force was considered to be attached directly to the 
Postmaster General's office. One Postmaster General 
alluded to the force as " the fingers of the Postmaster 
General's official hand, to be used by him in supervising 
the entire postal service." Within a few years this 
force has been attached to the office of one of the 
Assistant Postmaster Generals, but I think is now back 
again under the Postmaster General. A number of 
times during my service some ambitious Assistant Post- 
master General sought to have the Inspectors attached 
to his office, and I was asked by the Postmaster Gen- 
eral on one occasion if I had any arguments to present 
against this arrangement. 

" I will ask you one question," I replied. " Suppose 
that you desired to investigate alleged frauds in the 
office of this Assistant Postmaster General, about whom 
there are at present some newspaper insinuations, how 
would you do it? Would you ask him to investigate 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 213 

himself?" The Postmaster General laughed and 
said : 

" The Court has made up his mind and the matter is 
decided. I will keep the Inspectors." 

Whenever there was a change in Postmaster Gen- 
erals (and there were six while I held the position of 
Chief Post-Office Inspector), I tendered my resigna- 
tion, suggesting that, as the position was a confidential 
one, the Postmaster General might desire to name 
someone he knew, but I was continued in the position 
until I resigned voluntarily. While the work of the 
Inspectors was partially to investigate complaints and 
losses of letters and detect violations of the law, they 
also had many other duties, investigating complaints 
of every character against the service, negotiating 
leases for post-offices, investigating and recommending 
as to changes in mail routes, and, in fact, doing any- 
thing that the Postmaster General's authority and the 
law authorized them to do in connection w4th the cor- 
rection of evils and improvement of the postal service. 

Many matters pertaining to the service came to my 
lot to handle that were interesting. I will speak of one 
case. During the war and while I was an army officer, 
I had much to do with the Third Assistant Postmaster 
General, Mr. A. N. Zevely, as the postage stamps for 
the army were procured from him. On one occasion 
when I was in his office, he said to me : 

" You will find somebody else in this office maybe 
the next time you come." 

I knew that he was one of the very best men in the 
Government service, and had been in the Post-Office 
Department before the war and that he was a 
Southerner, and I naturally inquired : 

" What is to happen, Mr. Zevely? " 



214 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

" There is a rascal," he said, " trying to enforce a 
claim against the Government which is pure robbery, 
and I went before the House Committee on Claims 
yesterday and gave my opinion of the matter, and last 
night, late, a friend came to my house and said that 
Marcus P. Norton, the claimant in the case, threatened 
my removal, and that he had the influence to secure it; 
that I was a Southerner and it would be easy to bring 
it about." 

" Mr. Lincoln would not permit an injustice to be 
done you." 

" I don't think he would if he knew it, and I think 
I will go to him, if necessary," said Zevely, but he was 
very much cast down. He then gave me a history of 
the case. He said that when postage stamps were 
adopted in the forties postmasters were furnished with 
a small steel stamp to cancel the postage stamp with 
and a large steel dating stamp which gave the name of 
the post-office and the date to stamp also upon the 
letter. Every inventive postmaster in the whole coun- 
try immediately began to fasten the two stamps to- 
gether, so that one blow would cancel the stamp and 
affix the postmark. Then the Department began to 
manufacture and issue a stamp which was a combina- 
tion of the two, a bar crossing and holding the two 
stamps. 

" Now," continued the indignant Zevely, " after all 
these years this scamp turns up with a patent on it 
which he obtained years ago and has had renewed 
once, never presented it to the Department until now 
he thinks everybody is dead and gone who would know 
about it — he presents it with able attorneys back of 
him and is trying to get a law through Congress to pur- 
chase the patents, and I understand that the Committee 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 215 

on Claims, Roscoe Conkling, Chairman, has offered 
him $250,000 and he has refused it." At this juncture 
Mr. Zevely's recently appointed chief clerk, William 
M. Ireland, came into the room, and Mr. Zevely intro- 
duced me to him and then continued his story of the 
stamps, and Ireland interrupted : 

" I was a stamp clerk in the Philadelphia post-office 
when the postage stamps were first adopted, and I had 
the two stamps joined together and used them that way, 
and we had them all fixed that way." 

" Yes," said Zevely. " There 's proof now that his 
patent is of no value. I have been here a great many 
years, and sharks like that hang around Washington, 
perfectly familiar with the patent and all other laws, and 
ready to put up a conspiracy to rob the Government." 

I thought no more of the matter, but in 1877 or '78, 
about fifteen years later, while I was Chief Post-Office 
Inspector, I called upon the postmaster at New York, 
Thomas L. James, and as we sat talking, the United 
States Attorney, General Stewart L. Woodford, came 
in and said to Postmaster James : 

" Well, there is nothing more to be done in that Nor- 
ton case. I have had all the adjournments possible, 
and the case will come to trial next week before Judge 
Wheeler in Vermont, and we have but little evidence 
to resist it with. I have written the Postmaster Gen- 
eral time after time and always get the same answer, 
that they are unable to furnish me with any evidence. 
It is an outrage, and I have no doubt but they will get 
a judgment against you and then proceed to ascertain 
the damage." He went out, and Postmaster James 
told me that it was a suit against him as postmaster 
for the use of a patent device to postmark letters and 
cancel the stamps, and that the claimant had patents 



2i6 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

running back a great many years, and had a syndicate 
of powerful capitalists and an ex-Attorney General of 
the United States for his attorney. I immediately re- 
called that interview with Mr. Zevely, and told the 
postmaster that I was astonished that such a claim 
should exist and not be referred to my bureau in 
Washington. We had never heard of it and did not 
know there was any such suit, but I was very sure, if 
I had known of it, I could have obtained some evidence, 
because I remembered something about it fifteen or six- 
teen years before. I hurried away to my train and 
came out home in Western New York, and the next day 
went to a friend's farm near Jamestown to stay over 
night. In the night I was called up by a Deputy United 
States Marshal from Jamestown, who had accom- 
panied a Deputy Marshal from New York, who had 
followed me and who wanted I should get up and hurry 
to Jamestown and sign an affidavit that he could take 
back to New York to the United States Attorney upon 
which to base an application for an extension of time 
in the suit referred to upon the ground of newly dis- 
covered evidence. I rode to Jamestown and made the 
necessary affidavit, and he caught the train and left 
for New York. The application was made to Judge 
Wheeler, and a postponement of thirty days was 
granted. I returned by way of New York and set 
about getting the evidence. I knew Mr. Ireland still 
lived in Washington, although not in Government ser- 
vice, and I found him quickly and told him what I 
wanted. He refused to have anything whatever to do 
with furnishing evidence, said the Government had 
treated him badly, and turned him out of the position 
in the Post-Office Department, and that he owed the 
Government nothing, and felt very sore. At length 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 217 

Mr. Ireland yielded to the appeals to serve the Govern- 
ment, although he put it on the ground of personal 
regard for me. We went at once to Philadelphia. We 
found one old clerk who was the chief stamping clerk 
when Ireland was employed there as a boy of sixteen, 
and this old gentleman remembered those stamps and 
told us of another very old man still in the post-office 
who would know something about it. This second old 
man said, " Why, there is a candle box full of those 
old stamps down in the cellar. I took a couple of them 
home to my grandson to use as chucks in a turning 
lathe." We found that box, and we got some of the 
stamps with the holes drilled in the sides where they 
had Ijeen attached, and one of them had the steel dat- 
ing type rusted in it, so that it could not be taken out, 
and it gave the year and the date. Then we found the 
son of the locksmith who attached these stamps, and 
his father's books showed when he did the work for 
the postmaster and what he was paid, and the whole 
description of the w^ork done. Eventually three very 
old men were found who had had to do with the 
stamping at that time. On inquiry I found that the 
Patterson Mills retained all letters from their Phila- 
delphia office, and we found letters of that time on 
which measurements showed that the two stamps were 
always the same exact distance apart and therefore 
must have been attached. All this was before enve- 
lopes were invented. The evidence seemed to be com- 
plete. I arranged to take all these gentlemen on to 
Vermont and accompanied them as far as New York, 
whence they proceeded to Vermont on subpoena. 
When the case was tried, the Court was asked to set 
aside all of this testimony, and an effort w^as made to 
discredit it and every one of the witnesses. The very 



2i8 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

old men were somewhat confused under cross-exami- 
nation by skillful attorneys. Mr. Ireland was a re- 
markably young-looking man. I have never seen a per- 
son who bore so little evidence of age as he did, and 
the Court was plainly asked to discredit his testimony 
because he could not have been a clerk in the Phila- 
delphia post-office as long ago as he testified. By dis- 
crediting this and all other evidence of prior use, judg- 
ment was given against the postmaster at New York, 
and a Master appointed to ascertain and report the 
amount of damage accruing from violation of the 
patents on the part of the postmaster at New York 
during his term of office. The testimony taken in New 
York showed that the use of this double stamp enabled 
one man to do the work of two, and a very large num- 
ber of stamp clerks were employed. Facilitating the 
dispatch of mails was considered, but not fixed in the 
amount. The Master's report, however, gave a very 
large sum as the amount at which a judgment against 
the postmaster at New York alone should be fixed. It 
was said that two hundred other suits would be brought 
immediately, so an enormous sum would be mulcted 
from the Government, but the District Attorney at 
New York appealed this case to the Supreme Court of 
the United States on the ground that the Court in 
Vermont had erred in discarding the evidence of prior 
use. The Supreme Court of the United States re- 
versed the judgment and declared the patents void, 
and no other suits were commenced.^ Ten years later 

^ James v. Campbell, 104 U. S. 356, argued in January, 1881, by 
Charles Devens, Attorney General, and S. B. Clarke, Assistant Dis- 
trict Attorney, for the Southern District of New York, for the Govern- 
ment, and ex-Attorney General Williams and Benjamin F. Butler, for 
Norton. 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 219 

I saw Norton in Boston, and saw from the newspapers 
there that he was suing the city of Boston and other 
cities for a patent fire hydrant for which he had had 
patents for many years covering hydrants that were 
used by all the cities. I think he eventually failed in 
these suits. I was told that the different capitalists 
induced by him and two other men to continue his liti- 
gation supported him and his family for a great many 
years in an expensive way. On investigation at the 
Post-Office Department, I found that the chief clerk 
who opened the mail for the Postmaster General had 
been given a memorandum when he came into office 
that all letters pertaining to this claim of Norton's 
should be referred to a certain clerk, and he had always 
so referred them, and from examining the letter books, 
I found that all inquiries regarding this case for very 
many years had answers prepared for the Postmaster 
General's signature by this clerk. It was easily estab- 
lished that Norton stayed at this clerk's house when he 
came to Washington, and presumably controlled the 
correspondence. 

Since that time canceling and postmarking machines 
have come into general use. The first machines that 
were tested by the Department were referred to a Com- 
mittee composed of prominent postmasters and two 
officials of the Department. I served as one of the 
latter. The machines performed the work, but were 
faulty in some respects, and have been improved since. 
The inventor was apparently ignorant of Department 
ways, but had been told that the Government officials 
were corrupt, and that in order to succeed in getting 
his machines adopted, he must treat them accordingly. 
He offered us entertainments, and hinted that a stock 
company was being organized and that there would be 



220 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

stock at bed-rock prices. He really had a very merito- 
rious machine, was not a bad man, and acted very 
much embarrassed when he dropped his hints in a 
clumsy way. The Committee talked the matter over 
in private, and asked him to accompany them to the 
Postmaster General's room, where he was told that if 
he wanted his machine considered any further or any 
action by the Committee to have it tested, he must drop 
all ideas of bribing anybody. The Postmaster General 
spoke kindly to him and said, " You probably have 
been misinformed by someone," and the inventor said 
he guessed he had. It very often happened that bidders 
for supplies and business men of good standing in com- 
munities where post-office leases were being negoti- 
ated, would make improper suggestions to the officials. 
Sometimes the Inspectors would set traps that would 
produce merriment at the expense of those making the 
suggestions. I recall the instance of the lease of a 
post-office at Elmira, New York. The post-office was 
in the business center in the Rathbone Block, but more 
commodious quarters were desired. The Masons had 
built a fine Masonic Temple and offered to make a lease 
to the Government. Two Inspectors had visited the 
place and were besieged by the people. So much feel- 
ing had been aroused over the matter that the Member 
of Congress asked the Postmaster General to have me 
take up the case. I went to Elmira and announced to 
representatives of both parties that I w'ould go to see 
anyone they wished me to and hear their views on the 
subject. I had a map prepared showing the center of 
population, and spent two days in talking with business 
men as to the best site, and found nearly all of them 
Were influenced by the locations of their own property. 
Some, however, being prominent Masons, advocated 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 221 

the Masonic Temple even as against their own per- 
sonal interests. The lease offered by the Masons was 
in every way an advantageous one, and the facts in 
favor of that location were very apparent, but the ad- 
vocates of the other side were so strenuous that they 
took me from one man to another and monopolized a 
very large portion of my time. On my return to Wash- 
ington, I at once dictated a report to a stenographer, 
but before it was brought to me for signature, I was 
sent for by the Postmaster General. When I entered 
his room, I found there a Committee of the friends of 
the Masonic Temple who had come on a train imme- 
diately following the one that I had taken. The Post- 
master General introduced them by saying : 

" These gentlemen are from Elmira, and they have 
come to protest against your recommendation as to the 
leasing of a post-office site." 

" Perhaps they don't know very much about my 
recommendation," said I. " I have just dictated my 
report to a stenographer, and I don't know how they 
should know anything about it." 

" I won't mince matters at all," interrupted one of 
the Committee. " You spent your time with the 
friends of the other location — the Rathbone location 
— and it was rumored about Elmira that you had 
agreed to report in their favor for a consideration, and 
so we got together and came down here. Now, that 's 
the facts." 

" What was the rumor based upon ? " I asked. 

" Well, I did n't trace it back, but we heard it, and 
we believed it because you went from place to place 
among them and were seen with them all the time." 

" It is a pretty serious matter," said I, " for you to 
come here and charge me with being influenced by a 



222 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

bribe, and you ought at least to have some foundation 
for it." 

" Gentlemen," said the Postmaster General, " I shall 
require you to produce your evidence." 

" Perhaps the report is finished by this time, Mr. 
Postmaster General," I suggested. ''If you will please 
send your messenger to my office, he may be able to 
bring it." The messenger returned immediately with 
the report, and I took the Postmaster General's pen 
and signed it and handed it to him. He looked it over 
and then read aloud my report recommending the 
Masonic Temple lease, which they favored. They 
apologized very humbly and retired. Such occasions 
are not infrequent, but I never knew an Inspector to 
act improperly in any case of the kind. In fact, that 
class of cases were always sent to Inspectors who had 
large experience and tact and fairness. Business men 
often tried to sell to the Government something needed 
at an exorbitant price, and would justify themselves 
by asserting that the Government ought to pay more 
than an individual. In some cases also the opposite 
view was taken. I remember that a Scotch trunk man- 
ufacturer at Newark, New Jersey, Thomas B. Peddie, 
who had a high reputation, took a long-term contract, 
I think four years, to make the leather pouches for 
letter-carrier use. He was the lowest bidder and made 
very satisfactory work, but when his term was about 
half through, he notified the Department that he would 
reduce the rate, because leather had fallen, and he could 
afford to supply the Department at a lower price than 
his contract. 

A case showing the other view was one of a tie 
fastener to be used on the canvas mail sacks. An ex- 
pensive cord had always been used and had been drawn 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 223 

through the eyelets and tied in a knot. The wooden 
label would then be tied on, and in all large post-offices 
and railroad cars, in spite of instructions to the con- 
trary, this cord was cut to avoid working out a hard 
knot. The result was not only the waste of valuable 
cord, but the loss of the considerable time taken to cord 
the sack when filled again. The Railway Mail Service 
Department recommended that some fastening be used 
that would prevent the necessity of tying the cord in 
a knot, and the Department advertised for devices and 
contracts to supply the required number. A Commis- 
sion was appointed consisting of the Assistant Post- 
master at New York, the Superintendent of Railway 
Mail Service, the Chief of the Supply Department in 
the Post-Office Department, and myself, and we had 
a large number of devices submitted to us, some of 
which were very expensive. One very simple one, on 
which a patent had been applied for but had not yet 
been granted, was considered practicable and cheap. 
The Committee asked the Patent Office to detail the 
Examiner of the Patent Office that would have these 
very inventions, to aid us, and he examined the Patent 
Office records and found that exactly the same thing 
had been patented in the Cordage and Rope Depart- 
ment. It was almost identical. There were others 
that the Committee liked, but this one was offered at a 
very low price, and the Government could have them 
manufactured. The bid was according to specifica- 
tions. I suggested to the Postmaster General, when 
the Committee met in his room, that probably the 
owner of the patent for cordage, who was a cordage 
manufacturer in Connecticut, would not object to sell- 
ing the Government the right to use the device, and 
the Postmaster General instructed me to see what I 



224 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

could do. After thinking it over, I sent the Inspector 
from Brooklyn to conduct the negotiations. He was 
quite equal to it. He visited the manufacturing con- 
cern and laid down a card from a dealer in sash cords 
and supplies in New York and said : 

" I want to talk to you about a little device that you 
have that you use on rope lines and rope harnesses 
largely in your South American trade." 

The treasurer of the manufacturing concern, who 
probably thought that his visitor's idea was to use the 
device in connection with sash cords, said : 

" Yes, one of our men made this little invention, and 
we bought the patent from him to use in connection 
with the sale of rope harnesses in South America." 

" Well," said Mr. Smith, the Inspector, '' I would 
not ask you to sell it without reserving all your rights 
to use it in every way that you wish, but what would 
you ask me for it to use in other ways than your line 
of business? " 

" I would have to call a meeting of the board of di- 
rectors," said the treasurer, " and have them vote to 
sell it, and they get their fee for coming to the meet- 
ing, and then I guess I would give the inventor a little 
something. You may have it for $250." Mr. Smith 
went to Boston, and had the United States Attorney 
draw up the contract in form desired, and returned 
and paid $250 for the right to use, " He or his heirs 
or assigns, for any purpose other than rope harness." 
Then Mr. Smith came to Washington and assigned his 
purchase to the Post-Office Department, and a fee of 
one dollar was paid for recording the same in the 
Patent Office, so that the entire cost was $251 and the 
District Attorney's fee. The Government then adver- 
tised again for fasteners to be made by the lowest 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 225 

bidder under this patent, and obtained them for a few 
cents apiece. The net result was that, as against the 
bidder who really had no patent, $14,000 was saved in 
the first purchase of enough fasteners to equip the mail 
sacks in use throughout the United States, and large 
quantities of the fasteners were subsequently bought. 

The next winter the Postmaster General sent for 
me one day and introduced me to a Member of Con- 
gress from Connecticut who had a constituent with 
him, and the Postmaster General said : 

" These gentlemen have come to expose a fraud. 
They say that the Post-Office Department sent a smart 
fellow to their factory in Connecticut who bought the 
right to use a patent for a cord fastener, representing 
himself to be a sash supply man, and then he sold it 
to the Government, they don't know for how much, 
but suppose it to be a very large sum, and the gentle- 
man has come on from Connecticut and the Member 
of Congress is here to expose the matter and have it 
investigated. Now I know all about it, but I thought 
I would ask you to come in first." Then he explained 
the matter, and the Member of Congress was satisfied 
at the first moment, but the manufacturer arose to his 
feet and said : 

" It is a damned outrage to impose on citizens that 
way. If I had known it was the Government, I would 
have got $5000 out of you." 

Some very interesting cases of detection were 
handled by the Post-Office Inspectors. One case that 
was virtually completed when I became Chief, and 
which consequently I did not direct, but which I had 
the satisfaction of reporting as finished, was the 
following. 

The Secretary of the Interior, Zach Chandler, re- 



226 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

ceived a letter from a business firm in Chicago inquir- 
ing why they did not receive instructions to ship Indian 
goods for which they had a contract to supply the De- 
partment. Mr. Chandler had it looked into and ascer- 
tained that there was no such contract, and so informed 
the Chicago parties, who telegraphed at once that they 
held the contract signed by him. It was found that 
a man had visited this firm in Chicago and had said to 
them in substance, " The Interior Department is now 
making its annual letting of contracts for Indian sup- 
plies, and the successful bidders for your class of 
goods are all from the East, and the Secretary of the 
Interior, being a Western man, has determined that, 
if possible, a part of the supplies shall be purchased in 
the West, and has sent me here to see some of you 
people, and I have come to you first. If you want to 
obtain a contract at this schedule of prices for goods 
that you deal in, delivered at such and such agencies, 
you can have the contract." They had examined the 
list of goods and the prices, and had said they would 
take such a contract and enter into it at once. He had 
then produced the contracts all made out ready for the 
signature of the bidder and signed by the Commissioner 
of Indian Affairs and the Secretary of the Interior, 
and bearing the seal of the Department, and had added, 
*' All you have to do now is just to fill in your names, 
but there is a confidential matter that I want to men- 
tion. Mr. Chandler told me that President Grant had 
spent a very large amount of his small savings in his 
election, and that he wanted to help the President get 
some of it back, and as this would be a very profitable 
contract, he wanted you to send $5000 to President 
Grant." The business firm, who were Hebrews, had 
then considered the matter and said they would do it, 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 227 

and the man had given them the following directions : 
" Now, what I want you to do is this. I brought some 
envelopes from the White House that you see are dif- 
ferent and have a red stripe at the end. Now this par- 
ticular envelope, if addressed to the President, will be 
understood. They will know at once what it is, and I 
want you to put $5000 in large notes in one of these 
envelopes, and then we will take it — I have to know, 
of course, that it is sent — so we will take it together 
to the post-office in the morning and register it to 
President U. S. Grant." In the morning one of the 
firm and the man had gone to the post-office, and when 
they reached the registry room the man had asked to 
see the package, which was already addressed to the 
President. After he had taken the package and looked 
at it, they had all stepped into the registry room, and 
he had laid the package out on the counter and directed 
that it should be registered in the name of the Chicago 
firm. They had received back the receipt signed 
" President U. S. Grant, by Pruden, Secretary." The 
contract had been left with the Chicago men with the 
statement that they would receive orders in the course 
of ten days naming the Indian agencies to which the 
goods were to be sent. Of course the contract was a 
fraud and forgery, as to the names of the Secretary of 
the Interior and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 
but the seal of the Department was used, and the con- 
tract was upon one of the regular forms of the Depart- 
ment. Inquiry at the White House revealed the fact 
that a package had been received there containing 
pieces of newspaper of the size of bank notes, and 
had been laid aside by Mr. Pruden, who thought there 
might be some future inquiry about it. The confi- 
dence operator, of course, had a package in his over- 



228 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

coat pocket exactly in appearance like the one that was 
being registered and had substituted his package at the 
counter of the registry room in the Chicago post-office 
for the one containing the $5000. The President and 
Mr. Chandler were very much exercised, and put the 
matter in the hands of Secret Service officers of the 
Treasury Department, and eventually the Pinkerton 
Agency was employed with them, but no clue was ob- 
tained. The case was frequently spoken of at the 
cabinet meetings, and the Postmaster General finally 
said that he wished they would let his Post-Office In- 
spectors work on it, and the Secretary of the Interior 
agreed at once. Two Post-Office Inspectors were as- 
signed to the case. One of them, Thomas P. Shall- 
cross of West Virginia, who had been in the service 
of the Department for more than forty years, was one 
of the ablest detective officers I ever knew; the other 
one was Captain Tidball, a very active and efficient 
Inspector. They assumed, at once, that the work had 
been done by someone in collusion with a clerk in the 
Interior Department, and commenced to investigate 
the clerks who could have access to the seal and the 
contracts and the papers. They found there was only 
one, an old clerk who bore a character above reproach. 
The Inspectors, however, had as good a description of 
the man who had perpetrated the swindle as could be 
given by the Chicago merchants, and they went to the 
old clerk and said : 

" Now, you have a friend of about this description," 
describing the man. 

" Yes, I have such a friend." 

"Who is he?" 

" Captain Henry Worms." 

"Where is he?" 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 229 

" I don't know." 

" When did you see him last? " 

" Why, he was about here most a year. He was a 
Captain during the war, and we were comrades. After 
the war he was retained in service quite a while in the 
Freedmen's Bureau, and then he stayed about here 
trying to get an appointment in the regular army. We 
were intimate fi lends in the army, and I knew him 
well, so he used to make my office here his headquar- 
ters. He would have his mail come here in my care, 
and he used to come to my room a good deal. Why, 
what is the matter? " 

" Have you got a picture of him? " 

" Yes, I have a picture of him at home in my room, 
in an album, picture in uniform." 

" You have no idea where he is? " 

" No, I have n't any idea at all. He told me that he 
was discouraged about not getting the appointment, 
and he thought he would go to New York and get 
work, but I have never heard from him since." 

" What do you know about his taking contract 
blanks from your desk here and affixing the signature 
of Secretary Chandler? " 

" Well, now I begin to see. There have been mys- 
terious inquiries made of me by a whole lot of different 
men, but I never had any idea what they were at. 
There has been something going on that Captain 
W^orms did. I was away on vacation, and one of the 
clerks used to come to my desk and attend to the rou- 
tine and take it to his own desk, and the clerk said that 
Worms came in and wrote letters here almost every 
day, as I had allowed him to do when I was here. 
When I returned he was gone, and I have never 
seen him since. He told me that he was going 



230 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

before I went away, and that he was going to New 
York." 

It was very clear that Captain Henry Worms had 
done the whole business, and Shallcross and Tidball 
asked his friend where Worms' relatives were, and 
where he went most. " If letters came here to your 
desk, you must have noticed where they were post- 
marked." 

" Letters directed in a lady's hand from a town in 
New York came here, and Worms told me they were 
from his sister." 

The Inspectors went to that town in New York, and 
one of them inspected the mail at the post-ofifice every 
day addressed to this sister. At length a letter came 
from Northern Canada and in the handwriting which 
they had obtained in Washington as Worms' hand- 
writing. Of course they could not intercept the letter. 
That was never done by Inspectors, although the public 
sometimes thought it was. All they could do was to 
see the postmark on the envelope and not delay the 
letter itself at all. They immediately went to a little 
French lumber town way up in Northern Canada, and 
there they found a French Canadian doctor practicing 
medicine under a French Canadian name, but he was 
Worms. He had studied medicine and been a clerk in 
a drugstore before the war. They brought him back 
with them, and he was convicted and sentenced to 
imprisonment. 

Like all important detective cases that I have ever 
known, the work done by the officers seems extremely 
simple, and, in fact, the work of a detective is not mys- 
terious nor requiring special genius. All successful 
detectives that I have known are men of very sound 
judgment, with a very thorough knowledge of human 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 231 

nature, and of such experience as would lead them to 
guess rightly what a man would do under the circum- 
stances which the detective has ascertained existed. 
The balance of their work is the painstaking obtaining 
of evidence in detail and then considering it carefully 
and judicially. This Mr. Shallcross had a very wide 
acquaintance among public men. He was appointed 
when the force of Special Agents, afterward changed 
by law to Inspectors, was first created, when there were 
only two appointed, and his duties took him all over 
the United States. He had continued in office under 
all administrations until my time, and remained in 
office until he died. 

A Democratic Congress elected in '76, I think it was, 
proclaimed the policy of reform and retrenchment in 
expenses. Samuel W. Randall was the Speaker of the 
House of Representatives, and the Chairman of the 
Committee on Appropriations was Mr. Blount of 
Georgia. Mr. Blount proceeded to make up the ten- 
tative appropriation bill with great reductions in all De- 
partments, and it was learned that he proposed to vir- 
tually destroy the force of Post-Office Inspectors, by 
reducing the appropriation so that their number would 
have to be largely cut down and their salaries reduced 
to ridiculous amounts. The matter was talked over 
with the Postmaster General, and I was authorized to 
take any steps to prevent the reduction. I saw Mr. 
Blount, and asked him before he took any action to in- 
vestigate the matter, promising that if he would give 
a little time to it at the Department, I would show him 
by evidence the amount and kind of work done by the 
Inspectors, and convince him that the appropriation 
ought not to be reduced. I understood him to promise 
to do this, but he made no investigation, and later I 



232 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

learned that he was going to insist on his proposed 
action. I made application to the Chairman of the 
Committee on Post-Offices and Post-Roads, Mr. 
Money of Mississippi, now Senator, and he agreed that 
his committee would hold sessions in the Post-Office 
Department and investigate the subject. I also made 
application to the Chairman of the Committee on 
Expenditures in the Post-Office Department, Mr. Wil- 
liams of Alabama, and he promised to have his Com- 
mittee come to the Department and do the same. Both 
of these Committees held sessions. The Committee on 
Expenditures had among its members William Mc- 
Kinley, who, as in all matters of the kind, was very 
thorough, so thorough that the rest of the Committee 
told him to go on and go through the office of Post- 
Office Inspectors and get up the report. All seemed 
to have confidence in him. He examined into the 
amount of work done, collected statistics, and prepared 
the report. The Committee on Post-Offices and Post- 
Roads made quite a thorough investigation, and after 
holding a number of meetings in the Post-Office De- 
partment, they passed a resolution instructing their 
Chairman to antagonize the reduction. The present 
Speaker, Cannon, was leader of the minority on the 
Committee of Appropriations, and he took an in- 
terest in the matter. Inspector Shallcross one evening 
asked me to go down with him to see Mr. Alexander 
H. Stephens of Georgia, late Vice-President of the 
Confederacy, with whom he had talked and who had 
told him to bring me down. I went at once to the 
National Hotel with Mr. Shallcross. We were shown 
into Mr. Stephens' parlor, and in a little while Old Alec, 
his faithful servant, wheeled him out from the inner 
room. Mr. Stephens was a most remarkable-looking 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 233 

man. His face was colorless, but freckled and without 
any indication of whiskers. His hair was thin on his 
head, but fine and brown and not in the least gray, al- 
though he was quite old. It was combed straight down 
to his forehead and then cut straight across. He was 
emaciated and thin, but his large brown eyes made an 
impression upon the visitor hard to efface. When he 
came in, he said : 

" Glad you have come, boys. I wanted to play whist, 
and some of my partners have failed me for to-night, 
but Judge Watterson [father of Henry Watterson of 
Kentucky] is coming, and you two can help out, and 
I can have my whist. You play whist, of course? " 

" Very indifferently," said I. 

"AH right, then you will be my partner. We can 
whale them." Then we talked about the post-office 
matter a little. 

" I know all about that. I was Chairman of the 
Committee on Post-Offices forty years ago. Nobody's 
mail was safe. We could n't send any money home 
without its being stolen. We did n't pretend to ever 
write about politics to anybody; the letters were 
opened so freely. We finally decided to pass some 
strong criminal statutes making the minimum penalty 
ten years for robbing the mails and to appoint some 
Special Agents to protect them, and we put the law 
through, and the Postmaster General appointed two 
men, and this young man Shallcross here was one of 
them, and I got to know him intimately then and I 
have known him intimately ever since, except during 
the late unpleasantness when he was North and I was 
South, but he is a rebel, all right. He is a Democrat 
and always has been. You know that, don't you? 
That 's the best argument that you use to save your 



234 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

force, that you keep a Democrat on his merits. I 
don't go to the House every day, and I am engaged on 
some historical work here, but I will go any day your 
bill is up. Now, if you can keep watch up there and 
let me know, I will go up and I will have something 
to say about this matter. I have talked that at length 
and I am pretty well posted. Here comes Judge Watter- 
son, and we will tackle the whist." 

I played with Mr. Stephens and tried hard to adapt 
my play to his game, but his game, although strong, 
was original and erratic. He scolded me hard when I 
made two or three misplays, but the Judge and Shall- 
cross, I imagine, allowed us to win, for I was told that 
Mr, Stephens felt very badly if he did not win at least 
half the time, and that those who played with him gen- 
erally saw to it that he did. He invited me to come 
down any evening I felt like it. I was reminded of the 
story told of Mr. Lincoln's meeting Stephens at For- 
tress Monroe on a peace mission. The day was damp 
and cold, and when Stephens came into the cabin of 
the boat, where Lincoln was, and a servant had finally 
taken off all the mufflers and wraps, Mr. Lincoln re- 
marked, " That 's the most shucks I ever saw on a little 
ear." I think Mr. Stephens weighed about eighty or 
ninety pounds when I saw him, 

I had a stenographer who occasionally assisted the 
stenographer of the House of Representatives and who 
had the entree to the floor of the House, and when the 
time for the consideration of our appropriation in Com- 
mittee of the Whole was near, my stenographer stayed 
up there, and when the bill was nearly reached sent to 
the National Hotel for Mr. Stephens as agreed. Mr. 
Blount became very angry when he saw that the Com- 
mittee on Post-Offices and the Committee on Expendi- 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 235 

tures of the Post-Office Department were going to 
antagonize the reduction. Mr. Cannon also made some 
very pertinent remarks which inflamed Mr. Blount still 
further. As to my own salary, Mr. Blount proposed 
to reduce that to $1600. He said, " I can get plenty 
of men down in Georgia to come here and take that 
place for less than a thousand dollars a year," and Mr. 
Cannon replied, " I can get plenty of men out in Illi- 
nois to come and take the place of the gentleman from 
Georgia for less than a thousand dollars a year, and 
every one of them would perform the job better than 
he does." Speaker Randall left the chair and came 
upon the floor and made a speech, — an appeal to 
Congress to stand by the Committee on Appropriations 
in their efforts to effect economies, — and just as they 
were concluding the debate Mr. Stephens was brought 
in. He addressed the House but seldom, but when he 
did he had only to raise his hand and the Speaker would 
allow him to speak from his chair. He made a few 
remarks on the subject of Special Agents, when they 
were first authorized, the nature of their services, etc., 
and said : 

" I understand my friend asserts that these Inspec- 
tors are only political emissaries and workers. Now, I 
have a friend on the force who was one of the first 
appointed forty years ago. He is a Democrat, has been 
kept through all administrations, is a man of the very 
highest integrity and ability, and he vouches to me 
for the fact that the Post-Office Inspectors are hard 
worked, efficient, capable, and devoting themselves 
entirely to the public interests." 

As I remember, Mr. Blount had about fifty votes in 
the full House on his plan to reduce the appropriation. 

Mr. Tilden's campaign for the Presidency in '76 was 



236 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

managed by Hon. Abram Hewitt, who was a Member 
of Congress from New York. Extensive headquarters, 
with a large number of clerks, were established in New 
York City by Mr. Hewitt, and he and Colonel Pelton, 
Mr. Tilden's nephew, superintended a vast correspond- 
ence with Democrats throughout the country. They 
inaugurated, under Mr. Tilden's direction, a system 
which he had pursued when running for Governor, of 
writing pergonal letters by typewriter to Republicans 
whose names were obtained for the purpose. This 
idea was novel at the time, and typewriters were also 
a novelty. The letters were greatly appreciated by 
people who received them, and in many cases influ- 
enced votes. Governor Dix, Mr. Tilden's opponent for 
election as Governor, told the story that at his home 
on Long Island he had set aside a plot of ground and 
built a substantial house and given it, rent free, to a 
fisherman, the only condition being that the fisherman 
would supply his family with fish at the same prices 
obtaining in the village. This fisherman also had a 
large family of children who were assisted by Gov- 
ernor Dix's family in many ways. Governor Dix said 
to the fisherman : 

" Well, I hope you have liked my administration as 
Governor well enough to vote for me next Tuesday." 

" I am very sorry, Governor," answered the fisher- 
man, " but I have received two letters from Mr. Tilden 
which convinces me that we ought to have a change, 
and I think it is my duty to vote for him." 

" What have you to complain of that you want a 
change ? " 

" Governor," he replied, " I have not averaged more 
than three eels to a pot for the last three months." 

These letters, by the thousand, were written in ''^(i 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 237 

when Mr. Tilclen was running for the Presidency. 
After the election Mr. Hewitt, on the floor of Congress, 
declared that the correspondence of the Democratic 
headquarters had been tampered with by the post-office 
officials, and the secrets of the Committee had become 
public property. The Postmaster General immediately 
wrote Mr. Hewitt asking for information on which to 
base an investigation, and promised that if any official 
of the Department was proven guilty of having tam- 
pered with the mail of the Democratic Committee, he 
should be punished to the full extent of the law. No 
reply was received. The Postmaster General addressed 
a communication to the Speaker of the House, asking 
that a Committee be appointed and the matter fully 
investigated. At the same time the Postmaster Gen- 
eral directed me to have a competent Inspector get 
from Mr. Hewitt all the information possible, and pro- 
ceed to a thorough investigation. Accordingly, Cap- 
tain Tidball, one of the Inspectors, was instructed to 
see Mr. Hewitt and get information that would afford 
clues to prosecute any violation of law on the part of 
post-office officials. Captain Tidball, notebook and 
pencil in hand, waited upon Mr. Hewitt at Congress 
and very politely asked him for information. Mr. 
Hewitt declined to talk to him, and the Inspector sug- 
gested, *' Perhaps this afternoon will be more con- 
venient. I will come then." He came in the afternoon 
and he came in the evening. He came to the residence. 
He met Mr. Hewitt at the railroad station. He asked 
him on the train going to New York ; he asked him as 
he alighted from the train ; he asked him as he got 
into his carriage, and he asked him as he alighted from 
his carriage at his residence in New York. He visited 
the house in the evening and he was there before break- 



238 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

fast the next morning. Hewitt threatened him, but 
the Inspector blandly said, " I am instructed to obtain 
from you the information upon which you base your 
charge, and it is due to our Department that you give 
it. I am only performing my official duty." Hewitt 
did not succeed in evading the Post-Office Inspector, 
but he did not give him any information. The Com- 
mittee of Congress called upon Mr. Hewitt and finally 
secured his attendance in the postmaster's room in New 
York. The Chairman of the Committee was Hon. 
S. S. Cox. a Democratic Member from New York City, 
commonly known as " Sunset Cox." Mr. Cox was 
also known as a friend and champion of post-office 
employees, and the letter carriers of New York City, 
after his death, erected a monument to his memory. 
Mr. Cox succeeded, after cross-examining Mr. Hewitt, 
in eliciting his description of the appearance of letters 
that he was sure had been opened and re-sealed. " They 
presented a corrugated appearance on the back." The 
postmaster was asked to send a letter carrier, accom- 
panied by the chief of his division and one of the Com- 
mittee, to collect the mail from some letter boxes in 
the neighborhood and bring it to the room. Several 
hundred letters that had been taken from the letter 
boxes in sight of the windows of the Committee room 
were emptied upon the table in a few moments, and 
Mr. Hewitt was asked to select some letters there, if 
he could, that appeared like those that he was sure 
had been opened. He found quite a large number that 
had the same corrugated, puckered appearance and 
looked as though they had been re-sealed. This was the 
only information that he could give the Committee, and 
the Committee unanimously reported that there was 
no cause for action on their part. Mr. Hewitt, how- 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 239 

ever, was not gracious enough to admit his unjust 
charge on the floor of the House. 

It was learned afterward that a confidential clerk in 
his Committee room betrayed the secrets of the Com- 
mittee during the entire campaign. 

It is well known that the Presidential contest of 
1876 was an exciting one. From the time of the an- 
nouncement of the vote of the various States as re- 
ce/'ved in New York, apparently giving the election to 
Samuel Tilden, and the statement on the night after 
election by Zach Chandler, the Chairman of the Repub- 
lican National Committee, that Rutherford B. Hayes 
had won more than a majority of the Electoral College 
and was elected President, intense excitement pre- 
vailed throughout the country. The contest for Elec- 
tors in the Southern States and one or two Northern 
States began in earnest. A Congressional Committee 
eventually brought out the facts, showing fraudulent 
attempts to gain and hold an advantage in the Southern 
States and especially in Oregon. The Western Union 
Telegraph Company was compelled by subpoena to pro- 
duce the telegrams that had passed between Mr. Til- 
den's nephew, who acted as his representative, and 
various agents who were sent to different States to 
overlook the contest for Electors. These dispatches 
were in cipher, and I think were delivered to one of the 
members of the Congressional Committee for safe- 
keeping. Soon afterwards General Brown of Indiana, 
a prominent Congressman with whom I was somewhat 
acquainted, came to my office and said to me : 

" I know that you can be thoroughly trusted. I want 
you to go with a carriage to Number — F Street at 
exactly — o'clock to-day. When you are let into the 
house, go up to the second floor front. There may be 



240 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

a lady there and there may not; but if there is a 
leather vaHse in the room, bring it away, put it in a 
place of safety, and take care of it until you are asked 
to produce it." 

I did as requested. The valise was not locked, and 
I found I was in possession of a valise full of tele- 
graphic messages in cipher. After keeping them some 
time, I was finally told to produce them, which I did. 
Later fac similes of some of the dispatches were 
printed in the newspapers, and all the ingenious puzzle 
solvers of the country went to work to find the key 
and read these sample telegrams. Many ridiculous 
translations were made, worthy of the alleged crypto- 
grams in Shakespeare's writings. A reward was of- 
fered and finally won by a New Yorker who had struck 
the key in a rare little book bought at a second-hand 
bookstore. The dispatches were all immediately trans- 
lated by the Committee, and the authority to spend a 
certain amount to secure an Elector in Oregon and 
other Electors in the South, all came out plainly and 
did very much to reconcile the people of the country 
to the award of the Electoral Commission giving the 
Presidency to Mr. Hayes. 

I do not know that the following incident occurring 
in the United States Senate has ever passed into per- 
manent print. When the draft of the law creating the 
Electoral Commission had been agreed upon by Tilden 
and his advisers and the Republican leaders, it occurred 
to someone to ask George F. Edmunds, Senator from 
Vermont, to examine it and see if he could make any 
suggestions. He took the bill and brought it back with 
the suggestion that the two words be added, " if any." 
It was conceded by the Republicans that Edmunds, 
with his great ability, must have a good reason for 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 241 

making the suggestion, so they submitted it to Mr. 
Tilden's advisers, who saw no objection, and the law 
was passed containing those two words, " if any," and 
those two words seated Mr. Hayes in the White House. 
When the results from the returning boards of the 
contested States of the South w^ere under examination, 
the question arose whether the Commission should go 
behind the returns or not. The words " if any " made 
it optional with the Commission, and not mandatory, 
to go behind the returns, and the Commission voted 
not to do so, eight to seven. Later, when the Senate 
was in executive session, Senator Thurman of Ohio, 
who was a very intimate friend of Senator Edmunds, 

— one a Republican and the other a Democrat, but 
both serving upon the Judiciary Committee, and one 
or the other being Chairman, according to whether the 
Republicans or Democrats had control of the Senate, 

— arose, as he said, to perform a somewhat painful 
duty. He had been asked to formulate an epitaph for 
the tomb, when the occasion came, and he hoped it 
would be long distant, which should hold the remains 
of one of our most distinguished Senators. This was 
the inscription : " Here lie the remains ' if any ' of 
George F. Edmunds of Vermont." The Vice-Presi- 
dent promptly directed the matter to be excluded from 
the record, but the dignified Senators enjoyed their 
laugh at the expense of the Republican leader. 

The Clerk of the Finance Committee, whose Chair- 
man was Senator Bayard of Delaware, told me that 
when the question of seating a Senator from Louisiana 
was coming up, Thurman and several other Senators 
came to the Finance Committee Room and told Bayard 
that they wanted him to take the leadership in the 
debate, and Bayard remonstrated : 



242 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

"Why don't you do it, Thurman? It's your 
place ? " 

" Well, I have been in all of those contests," replied 
Thurman, " and I think it 's time I should be relieved 
occasionally. But it had better be handled by a North- 
ern Senator, and, Bayard, you are the man." 

" Now," said Bayard, " I don't want you to put me 
in there. We have a majority in the Senate, but old 
Edmunds is going to handle that case on the Repub- 
lican side, and he is priming for it. You know it and 
I know it, and I don't want to be yanked all over the 
floor, and it 's much worse with me than it is with you. 
I play cards with Edmunds every night, and when I 
get licked on the floor of the Senate he rubs it in." 

Mr. Bayard, however, finally took the leadership 
and with a majority of votes, but the case was so 
handled by Edmunds that the Republicans won and 
seated their Senator. The clerk also told me that in 
the lower part of the washstand in the room of the 
Finance Committee there was a bottle of good whiskey 
and a few glasses, and he was charged with the duty 
of seeing that a fresh bottle was provided whenever 
needed, the expense being assessed equally on those 
three Senators, Thurman, Edmunds, and Bayard. 
After appearing on the floor of the Senate to be almost 
in mortal combat, they would come into the Finance 
Committee room and take a sip of good whiskey to- 
gether. As they were all elderly men, they necessarily 
had to have a little stimulant. 




General Charles Adams 



CHAPTER VII 

POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 

Part II 

THE express charges across the continent and to 
the extreme West were very high, and it was 
customary for the banks and others transmitting money 
to send by registered mail, at the same time insuring the 
transmission. The Atlantic Mutual Insurance Com- 
pany of New York, which is a marine insurance com- 
pany, did this business largely, and its President told 
me it came about from their having insured bonds and 
money and bullion crossing the Atlantic for bankers, 
and then, when bankers called for insurance for money 
sent in the mails across the continent, the company 
devised a form of policy for this new insurance. There 
were comparatively few losses. I remember one in- 
stance where a mail car was wrecked and burned at 
Sedan, Indiana, and some cases were broken which 
contained small tin boxes weighing four pounds each, 
the limit of a registered package by mail ; and the 
contents of the tin boxes were twenty-dollar gold pieces 
sent by the Central Pacific Railroad to New York to 
pay their interest on their bonds. Several of the boxes 
were broken, and the gold pieces were rolled about in 
the mud ; but although the amount was very large, all 
were recovered by the postal clerks but twenty dollars. 
A registered package, containing a number of thousand 
dollars, however, sent through the mails for some bank 
in Idaho, was stolen outright, and the Inspectors failed 



244 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

to locate it. By some error the postal clerks of the 
Union Pacific Road had failed to enter the package in 
their list of packages delivered to the postmaster at 
Ogden. Therefore no receipt was obtained for it, but 
on investigation it was not thought that the postal 
clerks were guilty, but that the postmaster at Ogden, 
who found that he had a package for which he had not 
been obliged to receipt, had probably appropriated the 
money. A watch was kept, but he never disclosed any 
such amount of money, till very many years after- 
wards, when he bought a ranch and paid cash for it, 
but the money could not be identified, and there was 
no evidence to prove his guilt in court. The case, how- 
ever, troubled our office very much ; and I went to the 
Insurance Company in New York, who had paid the 
loss to the bank, and suggested that they use an en- 
tirely different system in insuring money sent by reg- 
istered mail, and that they take a descriptive list of the 
notes, giving the bank and number. I had become ac- 
quainted with the President of the company in Rich- 
mond when he had brought a letter of introduction to 
me while touring the South, and he heeded my advice, 
and asked me to assist his Secretary in getting up the 
new system and necessary blanks, which I did. Soon 
afterward Kountz Brothers of New York registered 
$5000 in five-dollar notes of the Bank of Montreal to a 
bank at Helena, Montana, the money being required 
for use in Canada across the line. When the package 
arrived at Helena, pieces of newspaper had been sub- 
stituted for the money. A telegram to New York, re- 
porting the loss, was repeated to my office. I tele- 
graphed the postmaster at Helena to forward the pack- 
age as quickly as possible to Chicago, and I telegraphed 
the Inspector at Chicago to examine every piece of 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 245 

newspaper and see what newspapers they were cut out 
from, with dates, -^nd wire me at once. His report 
showed that the newspapers from which the clippings 
were cut were from different parts of the country, and 
could only have been consolidated in the postal car at 
Omaha or west of there. Evidently they had been 
taken deliberately from the mails in the postal car, and 
used. Now, however, we had a descriptive list of the 
money, with the numbers of the notes, and with that 
we watched for their presentation. After seven or 
eight months one of the notes was brought to a Chi- 
cago National Bank by a bond broker named Lipman, 
who had a drover with him. A clerk told him what it 
was worth. Lipman inquired if the bank would take 
such notes and cash them, and the clerk said, " Cer- 
tainly, any time," and the men went away. Then the 
clerk remembered the circular that he had received 
from our office asking him to look out for Bank of 
Montreal new notes of the denomination of $5, and 
he informed our Lispector, who found the people at 
once. Suspicion had already rested upon a man, 
named Moore, who had formerly been a mail agent on 
the Union Pacific Road, but who was now a member 
of the Legislature of Wyoming, and who lived at Sid- 
ney. It was said that this ex-mail agent, when he rode 
up and down the road, for which he had passes, always 
went in the mail car and helped his old companions at 
the mail ; and it was known that he was on the train 
when this registered package was tampered with. We 
decided that the drover who had the five-dollar note, 
and who said that Moore had asked him to find out 
about it in Chicago, was innocent in the matter, but we 
had him telegraph Moore to meet him on the train out 
on the Union Pacific, and Moore came and sat with 



246 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

him in the seat. Some Inspectors who had never 
been out in that section sat in front of and behind 
Moore and the drover. The drover was entirely fair 
about the whole matter, and talked to Moore just as 
agreed, reported upon the note, and asked how many- 
Moore had, and Moore said he had asked him to inquire 
for a friend of his who had asked him (Moore) to 
find out what they were worth. Watch was then kept 
on Moore and his home, which resulted in finding the 
money buried in a tin box in his garden. Moore was 
arrested, but he had means and friends. One of the 
ablest lawyers in the West, Hon. Cushman K. Davis of 
Minneapolis, was engaged to defend him. He was 
tried at Laramie, and after a long and stubborn fight 
was convicted. The Insurance Company had paid the 
bank, and therefore the money belonged to them. They 
were written after the trial that the money was all 
recovered, but that the Inspectors would like to frame 
the five-dollar note which had been exhibited in Chi- 
cago and used as evidence, and hang it in their office. 
The Insurance Company replied that they were not 
only glad to let them have that five-dollar note, but they 
would be glad to pay what would ordinarily be paid 
to detectives, any reasonable amount, if it could be 
done properly. They were told, of course, that the 
Government paid the salaries of the Inspectors, and 
no presents could be received. 

As a rule, the post-office thieves were a very different 
class of men from those who committed thefts ordina- 
rily. They were not men of criminal experience or 
record, but clerks and postal clerks who became tempted 
and yielded. Sometimes it was hard to solve the real 
reason. A few times it seemed as though it was just 
sheer waywardness of a man who felt that he had dis- 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 247 

covered a new way of obtaining something for noth- 
ing, and which would not be Hable to detection. In 
fact I think ahnost every official who stole from the 
mails felt secure and was confident that he would never 
be caught. Many times they made the theft in a way 
that would cast suspicion upon other persons and away 
from themselves. To illustrate: the railway mails 
passing through Corry, Pennsylvania, were handled in 
part by agents who threw off mails at various stations, 
and when there were registered letters that they were 
unable to obtain a receipt for at the time, they would 
affix a receipt to be later returned to them. Several 
registered letters, which on investigation it appeared 
must have been missent in some way, instead of being 
put off at the office where they belonged, disappeared, 
and one mail agent was asked to pay for two packages, 
amounts not large, for which he was unable to produce 
any receipt. Our office, in studying the cause of these 
losses, some seven or eight in number, began to think 
that they might have reached the Corry post-office by 
mistake and been abstracted there. No letters, how- 
ever, were abstracted that properly passed through the 
Corry post-office. About that time Bradford, Pennsyl- 
vania, suddenly sprang into existence as a large post- 
office because of the oil developments near by, and the 
postmaster asked for a special allowance for clerks. 
Under the ordinary rules of the Department, he could 
not obtain it for a long time. I went to Bradford at 
once and recommended that a special allowance be 
given the postmaster, and suggested to the postmaster 
that he get a capable man, if he could, with experience, 
to relieve him on the registered mail and money orders. 
He wrote me soon afterward that a lawyer there had 
told him of a young man at the Corry post-office whom 



248 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

he had obtained, and who was very capable and was 
getting along well. But soon there were some more 
mysterious losses, which, however, might be traced to 
Bradford, and we felt sure that the clerk who had been 
at Corry and was now at Bradford was the man who 
committed the depredations. I put one of our Inspec- 
tors upon the case, and agreed to come whenever noti- 
fied and assist in the matter. A week or so later a 
letter was mailed at Corning, New York, addressed to 
a place in Maine and marked for registration, with a 
number placed upon it. At the same time a bona fide 
letter was registered to Bradford, Pennsylvania. Ap- 
parently a drop of mucilage fell upon the back of the 
bona fide letter and picked up the letter addressed as 
if going from Corning to Maine, the " test " letter ad- 
hering to the back of the other one. They were both 
placed in the registry envelope, and the Bradford let- 
ter was billed to Bradford. The Inspector examined 
the mail at Carrollton and saw that the registered 
package was still in the pouch when it went to Brad- 
ford from Carrollton. I met the Inspector and went 
to Bradford with him. In the mean time the Corning 
postmaster wrote the postmaster at Bradford, " Have 
you received by mistake a registered letter postmarked 
Corning, and addressed to a Maine post-office? Such 
a letter disappeared from my registry table yesterday, 
and as I registered another letter to you, it occurred 
to me that the Maine letter may have been sent you by 
mistake. Please reply." The Inspector intercepted at 
Carrollton a reply addressed to the postmaster at Corn- 
ing, " No such letter came to Bradford," signed by the 
clerk. Then the Inspector and I went to Bradford and 
hastened to the post-office. I said to the clerk, whom 
we will call " Smith " : 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 249 

" Where is that Corning letter for Maine that you 
say didn't come to Bradford yesterday? You say in 
your letter to the postmaster at Corning (which letter 
we took out of the pouch at Carrollton and know all 
about) no letter came here. Where is it, in your 
pocket? " 

" No, sir; I have no letter in my pocket." 

" Suppose you just lay out what money you have on 
the counter. If you are innocent of any such charge, 
why, of course, you want to prove it, and I should be 
glad to have you prove it. Just lay out the money." 

He laid out his money, and the postmaster read off 
the numbers, and the Inspector had his notebook out. 
" There is one of the notes. There is another of the 
notes. There is the other one. Here are the numbers 
and dates of those notes entered in my book when we 
put them in that letter at Corning. That seems to settle 
the matter. Now I guess you probably would like to 
have things as easy as you can from this out. Suppose 
you take us to your room — to your trunk — let 's see 
what you have there in the way of stolen things, and 
then we will go to a Commissioner, and the Commis- 
sioner will probably allow you to give bail, and if you 
want a lawyer you can send for him now beforehand." 

The lawyer was sent for, and the matter was all 
talked over. The clerk made no denials whatever, and 
the result of it was that he telegraphed to his father, 
who was a most excellent man, to come at once and 
give bail for his appearance at the United States Court 
at Pittsburg. I said further to the young man : 

" Now you have no bad habits. You have consider- 
able money that you have stolen put away. Where 
is it?" 

" I have three bank accounts," he replied. 



2SO A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

" Where are the books ? " 

" They are in my trunk at home at Corry, one a 
Savings Bank at Erie, one the Bank of Corry, and one 
is a bank here." 

" Well now," I said, " don't you think you would 
feel better if you just turned over that money to the 
Postmaster General and authorized him to pay it back 
to the losers? In some cases they are poor people. 
Here is a sheet showing some of the money that you 
stole at Corry, and this was money that a working 
man was sending home to his wife. You don't want 
to keep that money in a Savings Bank, and you 
could n't if you want to, because we would go for it. 
Don't you think you had better just turn it over? " 

" I think I would if I were in your place," advised 
his lawyer, " but don't turn over any that is not stolen." 

Smith said he would do it, and a letter was made out 
addressed to the Postmaster General turning over this 
money and requesting the Postmaster General to have 
it returned to the losers, including the mail agent who 
had been obliged to pay some of the losses. The In- 
spector went home with Smith and his father to Corry 
to get the Savings Bank books. When they reached 
their home, the father, who was completely broken 
down, told the mother something of the situation. A 
little had already appeared in the local newspaper. The 
son started to go upstairs to get his two bank books, 
but the mother got between him and the stair door. 
The father remonstrated with her, but she said : 

" Not a cent. Keep every cent of it, no matter how 
you got it. Keep it." 

The Inspector simply remarked: 

" When I became acquainted with the father, I won- 
dered how a son could go deliberately into such steal- 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 251 

ing. Now that I have become acquainted with the 
mother, I think I can tell. Madam, all I have to say 
is this; if he does as agreed, the Postmaster General 
probably will not insist upon the most severe punish- 
ment, and he will doubtless get off with a very light 
sentence; if he takes your advice instead of his 
father's, I can promise you he will get all the law 
allows." 

'' Mother," said the boy, " I am a young man. I 
propose to take my punishment and then live it down. 
If I take your advice, I shall continue to be a criminal, 
and I can never live it down " ; and he went and got 
the books. 

We had reason to think that our Depredation Office, 
as it was called, was more successful than most foreign 
offices. At one time registered letters going to Ger- 
many were frequently rifled, and complaints came to 
us and correspondence was had with the German Post- 
Office Department concerning the losses. Our office 
took up the case seriously, and decided that it was all 
done on the other side, and the German Post-Office 
Department was asked to give us the list of agents and 
their runs on the postal route from Bremen to Berlin. 
The list was received, but was apparently sent with 
some reluctance, and the German officials said it could 
not possibly be of any use to us. We made our usual 
study of it, however, and found that every rifled letter 
passed over a run where one particular man was one 
of the crew. His name, a long German one, appeared 
on the registers of arrivals and departures of postal 
clerks for every run on which one of those rifled letters 
should have passed over the route. We prepared a let- 
ter to the German Postmaster General, telling him that 
this man was the one who had rifled the registered let- 



252 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

ters, and suggested that if they would have one of 
their Inspectors arrest him after he had dehvered his 
mail, they would probably find some of the letters upon 
his person, and that if he were pressed and given to 
understand that it was known that he had been rifling 
on such a day, perhaps he would confess. A reply was 
soon received from the German Postmaster General 
thanking my office, and saying that the plan worked 
admirably, i.nd that the postal clerk, to the astonish- 
ment of everybody, was found to be the thief and had 
confessed fully. Not long afterwards the German 
Minister in Washington fonnally waited upon the Post- 
master General, and I was summoned and informed 
that the Minister was instructed to invite me to come 
to Germany as the guest of the Emperor. I was told 
to name my own time, but to inform the German Min- 
ister at Washington, who would send someone to New 
York with me and see me on a steamer. On the other 
side I would be met by an official of their Department, 
who would take me to Berlin, where for ten days my 
presence was desired as the Emperor's guest. Then 
I could go wherever I chose abroad, finally to return 
to Berlin, whence they would again escort me to the 
steamer and back to this country. I was obliged to 
decline, and as there was nothing delivered to me in 
writing, I only replied verbally that I was very much 
obliged for the kind invitation, but that I could not get 
away at that time. Later on 1 became acquainted with 
a German Director of Posts for the Berlin District, 
who was in this country, and he remarked to me : 

'* You were invited to come over and be our guest." 
" Now," said I, " I want you to explain. The Ger- 
man Minister delivered the invitation to be the guest of 
the Emperor." 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 253 

" Oh, certainly, but the Emperor does n't know any- 
thing about it. It was purely a matter of our Depart- 
ment. Everything runs in his name, that 's all. The 
Postmaster General would have taken you to the Em- 
peror and presented you to him, but it is not a personal 
invitation. It is the invitation of the post-office author- 
ities in recognition of your clever and very kind sug- 
gestions about the mail thief. We were really a 
little bit selfish and wanted to get hold of you and 
find out just how you did it, and as you would n't 
come over I am making a visit to you to find out 
about it." 

" All right," said I; " all we know and do, you may 
learn." 

One of the very efficient Post-Office Inspectors was 
General Charles Adams, who had the District of Col- 
orado and New Mexico. His career is worth noting. 
A year or two before the outbreak of the war he came 
from Germany to Boston, a young man, to seek his 
fortune in America. He was well educated, soon 
learned our language, and became a bookkeeper in 
Boston for a very influential gentleman named Adams. 
When the war broke out, he went to the army in a 
Massachusetts regiment. His name was Carl Swabach. 
He was promoted to be a Lieutenant and was shot 
through the lungs at Gettysburg, the wound resulting 
in the loss of the lung and of a shoulder blade, but this 
fact was not generally known. Perhaps I never would 
have known it had I not occupied a room with him on 
one occasion and seen the great cavity in his back, large 
enough to hold my hand. He was discharged from the 
military service and went to Colorado under the advice 
of physicians that the rare air would be better for him. 
Adams married there a widow, whose sister was the 



254 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

wife of the Governor of the Territory. His wife did 
not like his German name, so he petitioned the Legis- 
lature and had his name changed to Charles Adams, 
the name of his Boston friend and benefactor. After 
a while he was appointed Indian Agent, the first Agent 
appointed for the Ute Indians, who lived in Colorado, 
and who by treaty were together upon a reservation 
west of the mountains. The Government agreed to 
furnish them with supplies for'the winter if they would 
go upon the new reservation and remain there, but the 
contractors failed to get the supplies over the moun- 
tains before winter set in, and the Indians, not hav- 
ing laid by their usual store of Buffalo meat, suf- 
fered great privations. Adams, who had taken with 
him supplies for himself and clerk for the long winter, 
placed all he had at the disposal of the Indians in their 
general stock of food, and lived as the Indians lived 
on roots and such game as they could kill. This, with 
his other deportment, endeared him to the chiefs and 
all of the Indians. They named him Washington, and 
had ever afterward the highest respect for him. After 
living with them a year or so he was appointed Post- 
Office Inspector, and was noticeably energetic in the 
performance of his duties. I found him in office when 
I became Chief of the force, and soon learned to ap- 
preciate his value. An army officer stationed at a fort 
in New Mexico told me of one incident that did not 
appear in full in the official reports, and I will give it 
as obtained from the officer. The stage was robbed of 
the mails several times before reaching the fort, and 
the Department and Post-Office Inspector Adams were 
notified. He came at once and asked the commanding 
officer to give him a team, driver, and a couple of sol- 
diers, and said he would try to hunt the outlaws. He 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 255 

accordingly set out with a buckboard wagon, a Mexi- 
can for a driver, and two soldiers. The soldiers ar- 
rived back at the fort in a few days with a story of a 
battle in which Adams had been killed and the team 
and driver taken by the outlaws, and they had escaped 
without their arms. They said that the ranchmen all 
seemed, friendly with the outlaws, and warned General 
Adams not to proceed in. the direction that he was 
going; that he would be overpowered, but that he 
kept on. A few days later General Adams came in 
with the two robbers bound and their legs tied under 
the buckboard. He was sitting at the rear with his 
Winchester riflC' in hand, and the Mexican was driving 
the mules. Adams had followed the desperadoes to 
their rendezvous and single-handed had surprised and 
captured them ; and the soldiers who had deserted him 
and returned to the fort with a lying story were se- 
verely sentenced by court-martial. At the next court 
the robbers were arraigned for trial in Albuquerque. 
The United States Attorney, who had had the case at 
the preliminary examination and had them indicted by 
the Grand Jury, had been removed from office. He 
now appeared as attorney for these mail robbers and, 
in fact, other culprits charged with violation of the 
United States laws. General Adams protested to the 
court against allowing the ex-District Attorney to ap- 
pear in defense of men whose indictments he had 
secured, and when he knew all of the Government case 
that might be presented against them. He denounced 
the ex-District Attorney as unprofessional and as de- 
siring to act through spite against the Government 
which had removed him from office. In that country 
such talk was not generally treated lightly, and the 
judge nervously adjourned the court until afternoon. 



256 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

Many of the occupants of the court-room, expecting 
that there would be a shooting scrape, hurried out and 
sought places of safety. The Attorney walked out 
surrounded by his friends, and General Adams, after 
he had concluded a conference with the new District 
Attorney, also walked out upon the plaza. The At- 
torney advanced with a pistol in his hand to General 
Adams, and said : 

" I demand that you go into court when it meets and 
retract every word that you have said, and apologize 
to me in open court." 

" Well, I shall pay no attention to your demand. I 
shall not do it," said General Adams. 

" Then you must take the consequences." 
" I have no arms," said Adams, " but you don't dare 
shoot. You are a coward as well as a rascal " ; and 
he advanced upon the Attorney, disarmed him, and 
slapped his face. The army officer who told me of the 
first occurrence was present as a witness at the court 
and saw this encounter. He declared that he had been 
in many battles, but that General Adams was the 
bravest man he ever saw. The title of " General " 
was given Adams when he was appointed Adjutant 
General of the Territory by the Governor. 

When the mines at Deadwood were discovered, and 
bullion was being shipped out by stage, highwaymen 
robbed the stages of large amounts of treasure, in- 
cluding the contents of registered packages that were 
in the mails, as well as the boxes of express valuables. 
The post-office depredation cases were sent to the In- 
spector who had the territory embracing Wyoming, 
and his reports showed that he visited Deadwood and 
interviewed the local officers, the railroad detectives 
who were employed, the sheriff and others, and did 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 257 

all that an Inspector would usually have done under 
the circumstances, but after a time I had the cases re- 
called from him and sent to General Adams of Colo- 
rado. I told him that any reasonable call for assistance 
would receive attention and the assistance be furnished 
him. He went to Wyoming and immediately recom- 
mended that $1000 be placed at his disposal to hire a 
posse, and he also arranged with General Crook, com- 
manding the Department of the Platte, for the loan 
of some cavalry horses with equipments. At that time 
the law prevented the use of the military for anything 
other than strictly war purposes, but General Crook 
granted furloughs to some of his men, and General 
Adams hired them. In this way he organized quite 
a posse, and quickly started to go over the route to 
Deadv^ood. He rode on the stagecoach, however, and 
at night was so far in advance of his men that he par- 
ticipated practically alone in the encounter, but his men 
arrived in time to drive off the outlaws, one of whom 
was captured, not, however, by Adams, nor did he see 
Adams. The prisoner was carried into Deadwood and 
locked up. The sheriff had some men create a dis- 
turbance outside of the jail, and hurriedly pushed 
Adams into the same cell with the outlaw and said, " I 
won't answer for your life if the mob takes the jail. 
They are not in a mood to let off a horse thief." The 
outlaw immediately took Adams into his confidence 
and told him who composed the gang of robbers. 
They were the most noted " bad men " in the entire 
Western territory, who had gotten together for the 
purpose. He also told him where their rendezvous 
was, and all the secrets of the gang. At a signal from 
Adams the sheriff came and took him out of the cell, 
and said that he was going to try and get him away to 



258 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

a place of safety to save his being lynched. Adams, 
at the head of his posse, then pursued the gang, wind- 
ing up in the State of Nevada before he finished. A 
number were captured, but were lost (?) while being 
brought back to Deadwood. Others were killed and 
wounded, and it was thought finally that only two of 
the gang escaped. A large amount of bullion was re- 
covered, and there have been no further attacks upon 
the Deadwood stage since that time, except those that 
have taken place in the Wild- West Shows of Buffalo 
Bill. 

General Adams was thrifty and bought land in Col- 
orado that, being well located, rose in value, including 
a beautiful home at Manitou. He always kept up his 
intimacy with the great Ute Chief Ouray, who was 
one of the greatest Indians known to our history. In 
'78 or '79 the Indians of the most northern of the three 
Ute Agencies massacred the Agent, N. C. Meeker, and 
all of his mail employees and carried off the women, 
five in number. These Indians about the same time 
also defeated and killed Major Thornburg of the army, 
who had been sent to the reservation. There was, of 
course, the very greatest excitement in Colorado. Mr. 
Meeker was well known, was President of the colony 
at Greeley, and Colorado had by this time become a 
State. The Governor appealed to the Secretary of 
the Interior, Carl Schurz, to have General Adams, the 
Post-Office Inspector, detailed to go after the Indians 
and rescue the women who had been captured. Gen- 
eral Schurz immediately brought the telegram to the 
Postmaster General, and asked that General Adams 
be instructed to act under the orders of the Interior 
Department for a month. He was told that if General 
Adams was willing this would be done at once, and a 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 259 

telegram was sent, and Adams replied that he would 
start immediately. The Secretary of the German Le- 
gation in Washington, who has since become one of 
the most prominent nobles of Germany, was visiting 
General Adams, and asked leave to accompany him, 
which was granted. Adams went at once to the Un- 
compahgre Ute Reservation, where Ouray lived, and 
asked Ouray to detail a force to accompany him to the 
Northern Utes. About two hundred young warriors 
were quickly selected, and Captain Cline, who lived on 
the reservation, the same man who had been the Chief 
of Scouts of the Army of the Potomac during the war, 
accompanied them as guide and interpreter; so the 
party consisted of three white men and two hundred 
or more Ute warriors. The distance was about two 
hundred and fifty miles, and it was in early spring. 
The streams and rivers were all running very high, and 
the mission was a dangerous one every way. An In- 
dian who accompanied General Adams, and who spoke 
English fairly well, afterward told me that the Indians 
when ordered to go by Chief Ouray went most reluc- 
tantly, and said among themselves that Washington 
(meaning Adams) could never get there. When they 
reached the Grand River, it was overflowing its banks 
and full of ice and trees and floating logs. They all 
said among themselves, " Washington stop here ; he 
no cross river," but Adams rode to the bank, dis- 
mounted, bound his Winchester to the saddle, called 
to them to come, pushed his pony into the river and 
grabbed him by the tail, Indian fashion, making him 
swim straight across. The Indian said : 

" We all had to follow him, and on the other side 
he stop, big fires built, everybody warm; Washington 
ride all the time like Hell." 



26o A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

I asked him how Adams, who was very heavy, could 
ride so fast and so long. 

" Washington have five horses. He change every 
little while. We all have two horses. He ride all 
night, ride all day, ride all the time. He catch up on 
Indian, he make him stop. Indians have big pow-wow. 
Indians say they kill Adams. We say Ouray sent us 
to protect him, and we fight. Indians throw knife in 
the ring. Adams step out, and he talk to them in Ute, 
and he say, ' If you harm a hair of my head, soldiers 
thicker than the leaves on the trees will come and hunt 
everyone of you like jack rabbits, kill every man of 
you. I want those women. You know I am your 
friend as much as I can be. I want those women, I 
want the ringleaders.' Some of the Indian ringleaders 
run off, but he get some and he bring them back and 
he bring the women." 

Then the State of Colorado took advantage of the 
occasion to secure a removal of the Ute Indians from 
their reservations across the line into the Territory of 
Utah, and General Adams was directed to bring the 
leading Ute Chiefs to Washington, where a new treaty 
might be negotiated. I saw these Indians in Washing- 
ton, and became quite well acquainted with Ouray, 
who was accompanied by his wife Chipeta. The first 
time I called upon them at the Tremont Hotel, where 
they were quartered, accompanied by General Adams, 
we found Ouray and Chipeta in their room sitting on 
the floor, which was covered with Navajo blankets 
they had brought. Ouray always pretended that he 
could not understand nor speak English, but he spoke 
Spanish tolerably well. The Spanish priests had vis- 
ited the Utes in old times from New Mexico and 
taught them Spanish, and it was still kept alive by 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 261 

many of them. General Adams spoke both Spanish 
and the Ute language, and he told Ouray that I was 
his most intimate friend. Ouray gave me his hand 
and said, " Washington's friend, my friend forever." 
I invited Ouray and his v^ife to go to the theater. 
They had quite a pow-wow over this with General 
Adams. Neither of them had ever been in a theater, 
and neither had ever heard very much about theaters 
or the drama. But they agreed to go, and I came for 
them with a carriage and took them to see Clara 
Morris in one of her emotional plays. I had secured 
a box and placed Chipeta in front, with Ouray next 
to her, and I sat back. Chipeta was much younger than 
Ouray and was very good-looking. That night she 
had dressed her hair with great care, wore a blue 
broadcloth skirt, beautifully embroidered moccasins, 
and a tight-fitting bodice of perfectly white tanned 
deerskin, her neck, shoulders, and arms being bare. 
Her arms were both heavy with armlets of crudely 
hammered gold and silver, and she wore large ear- 
rings. It is needless to say that she attracted a great 
deal of attention. Ouray wore his Indian clothes, 
which were rich of their style, and put on some medals. 
Ouray did not understand the actor's words well, and 
Chipeta not at all, but she followed the play and was 
able afterwards to give an interpreter a very good 
account of the whole performance. She was much 
moved by Miss Morris' acting, and at the critical point 
when many in the audience were affected by the pathos, 
she wept passionately. Ouray turned to me, looking 
a little mortified, and said, " Chipeta little fool," but 
he spoke kindly to her at all times, so far as I saw. 

The Committees of Congress on Indian Affairs and 
the Secretary of the Interior and the Commissioner of 



262 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

Indian Affairs held daily sessions with the Indians, 
and a treaty was negotiated. It was interesting to 
watch the course of events. The Indians made long 
speeches and protested against every step proposed, 
except Ouray. He listened to everything but said 
nothing. At the crucial point, however, he made a 
speech and brushed aside all of the protests and argu- 
ments of the other Indians, and made an appeal for 
justice and at the same time such practical suggestions 
that most of his demands were conceded. Secretary 
Schurz said that he believed Ouray could rank in in- 
tellectual power with any diplomat in the world; that 
his grasp of the situation and his analysis of the propo- 
sitions that were being considered were masterly. 

The Ute Indians were warlike and an independent 
tribe who held their own for centuries against the 
most powerful tribes of the West and retained all of 
the territory intact which they had occupied, embrac- 
ing the plains where the buffalo frequented, and the 
mountains and rich valleys which are Colorado's price- 
less heritage. It is said that they did not war offen- 
sively upon other tribes, but were always ready to 
defend their own territory. The Chiefs were not 
hereditary, but became leaders through their diplo- 
macy and demagoguery and prowess in war. Ouray 
had become quite a chief when one of their important 
wars with the Apaches began, and was recognized as 
a leading war chief when the greatest of their battles 
occurred. His wife was killed, and his boy about nine 
or ten years of age was carried off a prisoner in this 
campaign. Ever afterward, in every treaty negotia- 
tion, in fact, on every opportunity that he had of in- 
tercourse with prominent Government officials, he stip- 
ulated that they should help him search for his boy. 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 263 

and the Indian Department made a thorough search, 
but the boy was never recovered. After a while Ouray 
married Chipeta. The Indians could have as many 
wives as they chose according to their laws, but Ouray 
had but the one wife. He always sought to bring his 
Indians toward civilization in every way possible, and 
he cultivated a farm, had good buildings built, house 
furnished with carpets, employed some Mexican white 
men to work for him, and being unable to ride horse- 
back, because of a troublesome fistula, he rode about 
his home with a Mexican driver in a spring wagon, 
w^hich was presented to him by an Eastern wagon 
firm. 

This treaty, negotiated in Washington, required the 
approval of a majority of the Indians; and General 
Adams v;ith General Hatch of the regular army and 
Colonel Moneypenny of Ohio, who was always recog- 
nized as a friend of the Indians and had once been 
Indian Commissioner, were appointed a Commission 
to execute the treaty with the Indians upon the three 
reservations. I Vv^ent to Colorado and visited the 
Indian Agency for two days while this Commission 
was holding its sessions. They were very stormy. No 
troops were at the Agency, but were within a few 
miles. The three Commissioners with the interpreters 
and clerks faced the Indians, who required much 
time for their pow-wows and deliberations. Violent 
speeches were made, and the whites were threatened, 
and it appeared from the accounts that I could get 
from the interpreters that each speaker was, as we say, 
playing to the galleries, that is, seeking advancement 
with the Indians and framing his remarks to curry 
favor and increase his popularity with them. Ouray 
drove to the Agency every day, but had but little to 



264 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

say. As in all great emergencies the Indians eventu- 
ally turned to him for leadership, and the treaty was 
completed and submitted to the Indians for ratifica- 
tion. The night after the conclusion at the Agency, 
Ouray was visited by a mob of Indian braves who ap- 
peared at his house and made threats, and several of 
their number went into the house and denounced him 
as a squaw man and threatened to kill him. He was 
a man of almost superhuman strength, and he took 
the ringleader and threw him out of the house and 
then turned upon the others and they cowed and ran 
away. His leadership and superiority were never 
really seriously questioned. The Indians of the South- 
ern Ute Agency, after the Commission had been there 
a week, refused sullenly to sign the treaty, and the 
whole treaty would have failed if they had not been 
secured. The Commissioners then appealed to Ouray 
to go to the Southern Ute Agency, but he said that he 
could not go; that there were no wagon roads, and 
that he could not ride horseback over the mountains 
and the long distance to reach the Southern Utes at 
Durango. But runners came with messages reporting 
a sudden outbreak of the Southern Utes, and Ouray 
finally said, " It will kill me, but I will go, provided 
the doctor of the troops [who was stationed near and 
with whom he had become acquainted] will go with 
me." So he set out, accompanied by Chipeta and the 
doctor, driving as far as he could and then taking to 
the saddle. He reached the Southern Ute Agency and 
secured a reversal of their action, and they signed the 
treaty, but he died in a few days. In accordance with 
his course of trying to lead the Indians into ways of 
civilization, he had instructed that he should be taken 
back, if he died, to Uncompahgre and buried in the yard 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 265 

at his farm, and that a white tombstone, such as he 
had seen East, should be placed at his grave, and that 
no horses should be killed, nor other rites performed, 
and that Chipeta should not disfigure herself nor cut 
her face nor go into the usual Indian mourning. She 
had promised this should be done, and the Indian 
Agents tried to carry out his wishes, but the Indians 
came in large numbers at night and took him off on a 
horse to the mountain caves, and it is not known where 
he was laid. Several hundred of his horses were 
killed, and Chipeta slashed her face with a knife and 
went into Indian mourning; but later she went to 
Captain Cline's ranch, Mrs. Cline being a favorite of 
hers, and told Mrs. Cline that she had not done as 
Ouray wished her to do, and she wanted to come and 
stay with Mrs. Cline and have her sympathy and assist- 
ance to recover from her remorse. 

Many things were told me about Ouray that showed 
his shrewdness and sagacity. The first time that he 
met the United States officials to form a treaty, he 
stipulated that he should be allowed a fixed sum, I 
think $1500 per annum, and this was given him. He 
arranged that this money should be deposited in St. 
Louis and subject to his order, and never spent any of 
it until the time when a famine occurred, and the 
Indians on the reservation were suffering for food. 
Then he sent out and purchased corn, which was 
brought in freight teams to the reservation and issued 
to the Indians. He was wealthy in horses and such 
property as the Indians have. 

Annually the Navajo Indians, who had been taught 
centuries ago by the Spanish priests to weave blankets 
of all kinds, and who kept sheep, made a trading ex- 
cursion to the Northern tribes and always spent a 



266 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

week with the Utes exchanging blankets for furs 
which they in turn sold to fur-buyers, and thus realized 
quite large sums of money. Festivities occurred when 
they were at the Ute reservation, horse-races and 
games and athletic sports, with attendant gambling, 
of which the Indians were fond. Ouray had large 
bands of horses, some of the finest, but he had never 
taken part in the racing contests. One year some 
white gamblers from the mines out of Ouray, which is 
now a city, came to the reservation at the time the 
Navajos were there and entered some trained race- 
horses with jockies in the races, and virtually won 
what furs and money the Navajos and Utes possessed. 
The Indians, however, are good losers, and they in- 
vited the white gamblers to come the next year and 
said they would have better horses. Ouray tried to 
have the Indian Agent keep the white gamblers off of 
the reservation, but failed; so in the autumn he sent 
for Captain Cline, who was the only white man per- 
mitted to live upon the reservation. He had the stage 
station where the stage route had to cross a corner of 
the reservation, and he had formerly been an inter- 
preter for the Indian Agent. Ouray could trust Cap- 
tain Cline, and he sent him to Lexington, Kentucky, 
where Ouray had been entertained once when taken 
East to Washington by an Indian Agent, and where he 
had witnessed horse-races and seen the thoroughbred 
horses. He gave Captain Cline an order for money 
on his bank at St. Louis, and directed him to purchase 
some thoroughbred colts and bring them in a round- 
about way to a point where Ouray met him. No one 
but Cline and his son and Ouray were in the secret. 
These colts reached the point designated in safety, 
and were immediately branded with the Indian brands 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 267 

that Ouray's horses were branded with, and were 
turned in with Ouray's herd of horses. They throve 
well, and the next year when the Navajos came, Ouray 
announced that he would enter some of his horses in 
the races, and instead of having old Indians ride as 
had been the rule, he trained some Indian boys. A 
large band of several hundred of his horses were 
brought near the plain where the racing took place, 
and Ouray picked out several of the Indian ponies, ap- 
parently to enter in the races. He waited, however, 
until the races had been going on several days and the 
white gamblers had got pretty much all of the valu- 
able stakes in their possession. Then his Kentucky 
thoroughbreds, not suspected by anybody, took all the 
stakes. The gamblers went away not only without 
money but on foot. They lost their saddle-horses and 
their watches and everything they brought with them, 
and Ouray had become possessed of all, and no one 
knew the secret but Captain Cline, who told me. 

I had known Captain Cline well at the headquarters 
of the Army of the Potomac. He was an officer in 
the Third Indiana Cavalry and was detailed as Chief 
of Scouts of the army. When I went to the Indian 
reservation, I heard the people on the stage saying 
they would have to stay all night at Cline' s, but I did 
not associate Cline with my old acquaintance and had 
no reason to do so. Three stagecoaches filled with 
people going through to Ouray and the towns beyond 
remained over night at the ranch, after a long, hard 
ride from Gunnison. The house was a succession of 
log huts one story high with mud roofs. After quite 
a good supper had been served, a young man told off 
the passengers to sleep two in a bed, but said to me 
to wait. When they were all gone, he took me to a 



268 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

little room which had cotton cloth partitions marking 
it off from the other rooms, with a very good bed and 
a bureau, and he set the lamp down and went out. T 
noticed on the bureau an old photograph of a group of 
people. I had been given the spare room for no reason 
that I was aware of, but when I looked at that group 
of people I saw that it was the Scouts of the Army of 
the Potomac, with Mrs. Captain Cline, w^ho spent two 
winters w'th him in the army, and one or two other 
women. Then I saw through the whole matter. Cline 
was away, but his wife had evidently recognized me; 
so I went out to the dining-room and greeted Mrs. 
Cline and her son and daughter. On my return Cap- 
tain Cline was at home, and I stopped over a day and 
visited with him. 

In conversing with some of the anny officers at the 
camp which I visited near the Indian Agency, the offi- 
cers told me that they had secured, from some of the 
participants in the battle that Ouray fought so desper- 
ately, facts that enabled them to draw a plan of the 
different battles and analyze the campaign; and Gen- 
eral Hatch and the other officers said that Ouray's 
conduct of that campaign showed him to be a master 
of strategy and, in fact, a great general. 

The Railway Mail Service had its origin about the 
close of the war. A Special Agent of the Department 
named Armstrong, from Chicago, who was a very 
able man, was the first official detailed to that especial 
work, and he laid the foundation for what afterward 
grew to be our efficient Railway Mail Service. Under 
the old plan all of the large post-offices in the country 
were called Distributing Post-Offices, familiarly known 
as " D. P. O.," and the mails were sent from the smaller 
offices to the nearest D. P. O., there to be made up in 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 269 

pouches which could be dispatched to another D. P. O., 
thus causing delay. The foundation idea of the Rail- 
way Mail Service was to get the mails aboard a postal 
car on a railroad and distribute them on the car and 
make them up for other railroads and keep the mails 
moving from railroad route to railroad route without 
delaying the mails at any post-office. Mr. Armstrong's 
successor was an Illinois country postmaster named 
Bangs, a very shrewd and able man, who brought to 
the Department as assistant Theodore N. Vail, a Chief 
Head Clerk of the Union Pacific line, from Omaha. 
Mr. Vail, while very young, was a well-known tele- 
graph operator and superintendent in New York City, 
and went from there to Iowa to a fine farm that his 
father purchased, and after a time went on the Union 
Pacific Railroad as a postal clerk. He soon mastered 
the details in every way, and displayed such ability 
that Mr. Bangs brought him to Washington to assist 
in the general organization of the contemplated exten- 
sive Railway Mail Service. To Mr. Vail fell the duty 
of executive supervision and preparing statistics, data, 
and arguments for use before Congress in securing the 
large appropriations needed to establish the service on 
the railroads. Economy was the watchword of Con- 
gress in those days, and the proposed expenditures 
were very large. All obstacles, however, were over- 
come, and the service organized and established in so 
secure a manner that it has gone on without material 
change to the present time, except of course very 
greatly increasing in magnitude, because the popula- 
tion of the country has nearly doubled and the railroad 
mileage where postal cars are run has many times more 
than doubled. Mr. Bangs displayed great judgment 
in dealing with the problems that were before them 



270 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

and in handling Members of Congress and all other 
influences necessary to carry out the general plan. He 
organized a Civil Service Reform in the matter of ap- 
pointment and retention of postal clerks, which worked 
admirably. I can best describe it by relating an inci- 
dent occurring in' his office. I sat talking with Mr. 
Bangs when a clerk announced the name of a new 
Western Congressman M'ho wished to see him. Mr. 
Bangs said, " Show him right in." I arose to leave, 
and Bangs said, " Keep your seat ; I think I know 
about this man, and you will see what troubles come 
to me." A brusque, lively, undersized gentleman en- 
tered and laid down a package of papers which he 
commenced to open and said : 

" I called to see you about some changes in Mail 

Agents in my District. I am a Representative of 

District, State. I am in a great hurry. I have got 

to go to other Departments and have just arrived here. 
I will tell you what I want. I expect you will accom- 
modate me. First, I will take up this route. There are 
four Agents on this route living in my District, and 
I have the recommendations of four friends of mine 
for appointment in their stead." 

" Wait a little," said Mr. Bangs, as he stepped to a 
large map, " and let me explain our plan governing 
such matters. Here is your District drawn out on the 
map, you see, and here is the number of postal clerks 
that your District will be entitled to have on every rail- 
road running through it. Now, the railroad that you 
have just spoken of, I see by the map here, will be en- 
titled to two clerks." 

" No more ? " said the Member. 

" No, not any more." 

" Hell fire ! I won't stand it." 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 271 

" And besides," resumed Mr. Bangs, " those men 
that are on there now, if they are satisfactory to us, 
cannot be removed. We are making examination as 
to all of the Agents in service to see whether they can 
be installed in the new Railway Mail Service arrange- 
ment, and I fear many of them cannot bear the scru- 
tiny. Their packages of letters, now, are all to bear 
a slip with their name and date on it, and every mistake 
is charged up to them. Their general efficiency is also 
reported upon. After having been furnished with 
printed schemes, giving the lists of post-offices in each 
State, they will be called up for examination at the 
Chief Head Clerk's office, and will be required to ' put 
up ' cards bearing the names of post-offices to the cor- 
rect routes to which they should be sent. Of course 
some may fail, and vacancies may occur among these 
old men. Some of them may prove satisfactory, and 
they will be retained. There are no vacancies at pres- 
ent on that route. When there are vacancies, you will 
be asked to name a candidate meeting requirements, 
which will be furnished you, and that candidate, when 
he reports, if found satisfactory, will receive a proba- 
tionary appointment for six months, and we will en- 
deavor to make him useful in that time and also make 
him study the distribution of mails. If he makes sat- 
isfactory progress in that six months, he will receive 
a permanent appointment, and then we calculate he 
will be secure in his position." 

" Hell fire ! " exclaimed the Congressman, " do you 
mean to say that I can't put anybody out and put any- 
body in in my District ? " 

" Certainly not, certainly not," replied Mr. Bangs 
blandly. " That would overturn the whole system. 
It is a merit system that we are going upon." 



272 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

" Why, these four men that I demand should be re- 
moved were all my enemies, worked against my nomi- 
nation, and the men that I want appointed in their 
places were my friends who helped me to secure the 
nomination." 

" Well," said Mr. Bangs, " that does not enter into 
it. If you get some men appointed, as you will, why, 
when you go out and some other man supersedes you 
and comes here, he will find that he cannot get your 
men out ; they will be solid and secure as long as they 
perform their duties. Now, you can write letters here 
recommending each one of those men, and we will take 
them up and answer you in each case, telling the 
plan and regretting that we can't appoint your 
friends under the system controlling. We will 
make the letters strong, so you can excuse yourself 
to your friends." 

" Hell fire ! I won't stand it. I have promised these 
men the places. I will take these papers and go to the 
Postmaster General, and if I can't get satisfaction I 
will go to the President. Our District and our State 
has given the President a big majority. We propose 
to have what we are entitled to, and I won't stand any 
such nonsense. I will get on the floor in Congress and 
fight you to the death, if I can't do anything else! 
Hell Fire ! I — I — I will rip the whole thing up the 
back." 

" Oh, well, now, you will find you have n't offended 
anybody here. Your talk is perfectly natural, and you 
go and see what you can do, as you are bound to do, 
and you file your recommendations and we will write 
you letters, and then the day will come, probably pretty 
soon, when we will be asking you to name some husky 
young fellows for appointment. You won't offend 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 273 

anybody here. It 's all right, but there is a change in 
the plan. Things are changing, sir." 

I remembered the case and asked Mr. Bangs after- 
wards about his " Hell Fire Congressman." " Oh," 
he said, " he is a good fellow. He understands it all 
now, and we have smoothed down his chaps that he 
could not get appointed, and he is working all right in 
the harness." 

This system secured excellent men, and they were 
perfectly safe in position, but the fatal fault was that 
when the administration changed — and the parties 
changed — this plan was liable to be dropped or par- 
tially set aside. When the first Civil Service Reform 
Laws were passed by Congress, the Railway Mail Ser- 
vice employees were exempted from its operations, but 
later on, with the election of Mr. Cleveland, there came 
a change in administration to the Democrats, and the 
work of slaughter went merrily on, and Democrats 
were installed in place of Republicans. Then, just as 
Mr. Cleveland went out of office, he issued an order 
placing the Railway Mail Service under the classified 
list, to protect those who had been appointed. 

The Government secured, with Mr. Bangs and Mr. 
Vail, abilities of a character to which, considering the 
compensation paid, it was not entitled. Mr. Bangs 
became so well known that he was offered positions 
with very high salaries in private and corporate em- 
ployment. He declined to consider these offers until 
he felt that his work was well along, when he accepted 
the position of General Superintendent of the Ameri- 
can Express Company, and even for about a year after 
accepting that position he remained in the Department 
to complete certain details connected with the Railway 
Mail Service. Of course, his compensation in his new 



274 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

position was many times that received with the Gov- 
ernment, and he held the place with marked ability 
until he died. 

Mr. Vail succeeded him, and continued raising the 
standard of efficiency higher and higher until a very 
high level was reached. When Professor Bell discov- 
ered the telephone, Mr. Vail, who had a partiality for 
electrical experiments developed by his early career as 
a telegrapher, at once saw that the telephone could be 
made of commercial value to the public, and connected 
himself with gentlemen who formed the first company 
to exploit the invention, Mr. Vail being General Man- 
ager of the company. It has been generally conceded 
that the plans adopted by the American Bell Telephone 
Company, with their successful execution, stand as one 
of the most remarkable achievements of the kind that 
have ever been known. Before the patents expired the 
entire world was using the telephone, and the rate of 
use has constantly increased until now it is an indispen- 
sable adjunct to civilization. Mr. Vail is now Presi- 
dent of the parent Bell Company. 

Successors of these men have found the Railway 
Mail Service merely a matter of executive administra- 
tion, and, so far as I know, no radical changes have 
ever been made in the system. The postal clerks have 
always been a very hard-working, valuable class of 
public servants. Their compensation has been small, 
and the dangers attached to their positions have been 
considerable. To properly perform their duties, their 
minds are constantly employed in study to keep up 
with the changes in routes and increasing number of 
post-offices, and while on duty they are seldom seen 
idle. I do not think these men have been properly 
appreciated by the general public or by the law-making 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 275 

power. They should be pensioned after long service, 
and should receive financial aid when injured in the 
service. The list of casualties is a very large one every 
year. The mental faculties will weaken under the high 
strain required, so that at least they cannot maintain 
the same activity. I think, in such cases, the clerks are 
shifted to lighter duties, when possible, but there should 
be some provision for those who from long and hard 
service have passed their stage of usefulness in the 
exacting demands of their positions. 

Important improvements in the postal service, which 
have kept abreast of improvements in other countries, 
and in many cases outstripped them, have had the life 
service of able men. The Money Order Service, which 
was established during the war and has expanded to 
be an indispensable public convenience, was established 
and administered for about thirty years by Dr. C. F. 
McDonald of Massachusetts, a gentleman of very high 
scholarly attainments. He first studied what had been 
done at that time abroad in this line, and then perfected 
a system adapted to this country, and administered it 
most successfully at a compensation smaller than the 
salary of the cashier in many country banks. 

The Free Delivery Service came into being at about 
the same time. There had been, in the large cities, 
licensed penny posts ; namely, carriers who, upon stand- 
ing orders regularly filed wuth the postmasters, ob- 
tained the mail for their customers and delivered it at 
the authorized rate of a penny a letter, which resulted 
in the carriers' finally selling penny post stamps to be 
affixed to letters for them to deliver. Of course, this 
was very incomplete and unsatisfactory, and the Free 
Delivery Service was undertaken by the Government. 
Mr. Gourley superintended its inauguration and estab- 



276 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

lished it in the various cities and towns as prescribed 
by law. He arranged all the details, including the ap- 
pointment of carriers, the placing of lamp-post boxes, 
etc., covering a system that has not been changed mate- 
rially since its first establishment. Of course, he re- 
ceived a small salary. 

Other Departments of the Government have had the 
life-work of men of great ability, who have served 
without adequate compensation and who, at best, have 
barely eked out a respectable existence with families 
to raise and educate. Such men in the various De- 
partments became acquainted, in time, with persons 
holding similar positions under other great Govern- 
ments. A gentleman occupying a prominent position 
in the British Postal Service came to the Post-Office 
Department several times while I was there, and once 
since then I met him traveling in this country, examin- 
ing into some changes in service which he thought 
worth looking into, and I said to him : 

" Why, Mr. Preece, I supposed that you had left the 
service before this time." 

" Oh," he replied, " I could leave at any time now. 
I have long been entitled from length of service to re- 
tire on full pension, but I am physically, and I think 
mentally, active and have preferred to continue. I sup- 
pose you don't know that I was knighted by the Queen, 
so at home I am called ' Sir.' " 

In Canada the old officials in the Government ser- 
vice receive recognition and provision for age. Under 
our old idea that the average citizen could step up after 
election and ask an appointment and assume the duties 
of any office and hold it until rotated out by the next 
change of administration, pensions, or permanent rec- 
ognition for services rendered, of course, were not to 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 277 

be expected, but with the advent o£ reform in the Civil 
Service permanent employment during the period of 
efficiency should be followed by provision for the in- 
active time of life. 

I continued in the position of Chief Post-Office 
Inspector until 1883, when Walter Q. Gresham was 
Postmaster General. In the spring of that year I re- 
plied favorably when asked if I would consider a prop- 
osition to go with the American Bell Telephone Com- 
pany, and one day received a telegram inquiring if I 
could be in Boston on Friday. Thursday night I went 
on, and at twelve o'clock Friday I was ushered into 
the President's room, where I found the Directors of 
the company in session at a meeting, and President 
William H. Forbes said that they desired to bring 
some men of executive experience into their service, 
and that I had been mentioned by Mr. Vail. I asked 
what the character of the duties was, and Mr. Forbes 
said. " to represent the parent company with some of 
the local companies in which we are interested and to 
perform such other duties as would be assigned." I 
said, " I am not an electrician, and doubt if I could 
master it." He said, " That is not the class of men 
we are seeking. We have electricians. Mr. Vail will 
explain the duties to you in every way if you decide to 
come with us," and a little general conversation ensued, 
and I went back to Mr. Vail and received an explana- 
tion of what would be expected of me, etc. I left the 
city at two o'clock by the roundabout Hoosac Tunnel 
and Erie line, which ran a car from Boston to Chi- 
cago and which passed my home at Randolph. Satur- 
day morning I arrived at Randolph, where I was ex- 
pected by my wife. As I passed the depot to go to 
the carriage which was waiting, the telegraph operator 



278 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

brought out a bundle of telegrams to me, and I opened 
them in the buggy, while my wife was driving, and 
found that I had been appointed postmaster at Wash- 
ington at the hour that I was meeting the officers 
of the Telephone Company in Boston. Postmaster Gen- 
eral Gresham afterwards told me that the matter came 
up in cabinet session on Friday following the Monday 
when the postmaster at Washington, Mr. Tullock, had 
dropped dead. There were several candidates who had 
ardently pushed their claims. Postmaster General 
Gresham said that he thought it would be proper to 
appoint a post-office official as postmaster at Washing- 
ton, as the Government had the large proportion of the 
mails and a new building was about to be erected, and 
he would recommend that an experienced, expert post- 
office official be appointed. President Arthur asked 
him if he had such a man, and the Postmaster General 
named me, and the President said, " Certainly, that is 
just the thing to do. What do you other gentlemen 
think? " They all approved, and I was appointed. So 
I was able to say to my wife, " I can remain as Chief 
Post-Office Inspector; I don't know of anyone who 
wants me to give up the office; I can take the place 
of postmaster at Washington and perhaps hold it 
two years, and perhaps longer, depending upon who 
may be elected President next time ; or I can go with 
the American Bell Telephone Company, in a position 
that I think will enable me to spend more time at home, 
and I am going to leave it entirely to you to decide." 
My wife said that she would not require any time for 
decision, that she wanted me to go with the Telephone 
Company. This agreed with my own inclinations, and 
I telegraphed Postmaster General Gresham that I 
would arrive at Washington Monday morning, but did 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 279 

not think that I could accept the office. Telegrams 
kept arriving from friends and acquaintances who saw 
my appointment and who learned that I had gone home 
to Randolph to stay over Sunday, including a dispatch 
from old Washington friends who offered to make my 
bond. 

On Sunday I took a walk on my farm from the 
house over to the farmer's house, perhaps half a mile, 
taking with me a fine young collie dog that had been 
sent me by a friend. As I approached the Scotch 
farmer's house, a large collie dog that he had brought 
from Scotland came rushing out at my dog. They 
had never met. I reached down to get my dog by the 
collar and undertook to beat off the other dog to pre- 
vent their getting together, but in an instant one of 
them had one of my hands in his big jaws and the 
other one had the other hand, biting so hard that the 
teeth met. The farmer came running out, but had to 
get a stick from the wood-pile to pry their mouths 
open before they would let go their holds. They had 
caught my hands in their anger to reach each other, 
and were receiving blood from the wounds, and they 
could not be gotten away for a while. I was unable to 
return to Washington that afternoon, but telegraphed 
to General Gresham details of the accident, and also 
the reasons why I declined the post-office. The fact 
of my being bitten by the angry dogs was given to the 
press and telegraphed everywhere, as it probably would 
not have been had I not been appointed postmaster 
at Washington just at that time. But there was 
quite a boiling pot for a while. The dispatch said 
" angry dogs," and it was easy for some journals to 
change that to " mad dogs," and then the progress of 
development of hydrophobia was watched with inter- 



28o A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

est. Messengers and correspondents were sent to Ran- 
dolph, and they cHmbed our long hill of a mile and a 
half to get interviews and particulars, and, of course, 
my own friends also made inquiries, and altogether I 
had quite a busy time. 

When I came back to my house and had the hands 
dressed, I directed that the dog should be chained up 
and said, " He must not be disturbed because he bit 
me. I ought to have known better than to try to sepa- 
rate them"; but the same evening when I inquired 
about the dogs I was informed that both the highly 
prized dog that the Scotch farmer had, and my magni- 
ficent " Jack " had been taken off to the woods and 
killed, so I would not have rabies. 

A few days later I sat on the porch with a cousin 
who had come to see me, and we had been reading the 
newspapers, and my cousin had one over his hands and 
one over his bald head and was asleep in his chair, 
and I had a newspaper over my hands which were ban- 
daged. An old gentleman and his wife drove up with 
a horse and phaeton, alighted and hitched, and the lady 
went in the house while the old gentleman came and 
said: 

" We live about six miles from here, and I thought 
that I would drive up to-day and tell Mr. Parker about 
a man that I saw down in Livingston County last year. 
My wife and I went down there to visit old friends, 
and while we were there a man in the neighborhood 
came down with hydrophobia; and they built a log 
pen and put him in it, and I went to see him, and he 
was barking like a dog, and begging for death, and 
they put food and water in through the chinks in the 
logs, but he would n't take either, and, of course, he 
died. Just before I came away I talked with the doc- 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 281 

tor, and he said they always died, that there never was 
any help for them, and being as I had that direct 
knowledge on the subject, I thought I would come up 
and tell Mr. Parker." 

" Well," I said, " he is asleep just now, but when he 
awakes we will tell him about it, and he will be greatly 
encouraged, of course. I am glad that you have come 
to tell him. He has received all kinds of sympathy and 
comfort from everybody, and I am quite sure he will 
be very much obliged to you "; and the old gentleman 
went away satisfied that he had done Mr. Parker a 
great kindness. I had no thought of having hydro- 
phobia, but I was quite interested in the long-range 
study of my case that was made by various professional 
men, who assumed that I had been bitten by rabid dogs. 

I returned to Washington in about a week and ten- 
dered my resignation. General Gresham requested 
me to leave the date of its acceptance until the annual 
reports were prepared, and said that I might be away 
a part of the time if I desired. He also asked me to 
name my successor from among the Inspectors, and 
I accordingly named A. G. Sharp, who was appointed 
and held the office until the change in administration a 
couple of years later. 

After I considered that I was permanently separated 
from the Post-Office Department and had settled all 
my accounts, I received a dispatch while in Cincinnati 
on telephone business asking me to return by way of 
Washington. I did so, and the new Chief Post-Office 
Inspector told me that there was something that the 
Postmaster General wished to see me about, and he 
guessed it was some old unsettled matter. I was very 
curious at once, because I knew of nothing that could 
possibly come up of an unsettled character in which I 



282 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

was concerned, but he would only say, " it is some- 
thing the Postmaster General has got in his head, and 
he thought that he had better have a private meeting 
with you." After a while a messenger came in and 
said Judge Gresham would see me in his private room. 
When I got in the room, it was pretty well filled with 
post-office officials, and on the table there was a big 
album of letters and a watch and chain and some other 
things that did not belong properly to the Postmaster 
General's outfit, and Judge Gresham stepped forward 
and leveled a speech at me and said that they wished 
to give me a testimonial. I was placed where I had to 
stammer and show my appreciation, and thought the 
matter was over; but I was asked if I could stay two 
days and accept a banquet to be given by the officers 
of the Department. I accepted, of course, with the 
proviso, however, that there should be no speech- 
making. General Elmer, the Second Assistant Post- 
master General, solemnly promised that there should 
be no speeches, and we sat down to the banquet in the 
large private dining-room at the Arlington Hotel. 
General Gresham had that day assumed the duties of 
Secretary of the Treasury, and Mr. Hatton had been 
made Postmaster General. After we had partaken of 
the repast and exchanged pleasant greetings, I thought 
the affair was about to end, but General Elmer arose 
and said, " I will be toast-master, and I will first call 
upon Judge Gresham for some remarks." I reminded 
them of the understanding that there should be no 
speech-making, and I was answered by everybody say-. 
ing, " Oh, there won't be any speeches." Judge 
Gresham commenced by saying, " The President's 
Cabinet and the Justices of the Supreme Court are this 
evening giving a banquet to Lord Cockburn, Chan- 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 283 

cellor and Chief Justice of England, but I preferred 
to be here, as I wish to pay a tribute to our friend." 
They all went on speaking, and some letters were read 
from ex-Postmasters General with whom I had served, 
and everything was pleasant for everybody but me; 
but the fact that I knew that the circle at that table 
would all get through their talks, which they had had 
plenty of time to prepare, and that sometime I would 
be reached and would be unable to avoid getting on my 
feet and trying at least to make some appropriate an- 
swer to some of the compliments that had been paid 
me, was not pleasant. I got through with it as best I 
could, but I am sure I did not deserve another banquet 
for any achievements on that occasion. 

General Elmer, as Second Assistant Postmaster Gen- 
eral, resigned his position to start a surety company in 
New York, the first company that did business on any 
extended scale, the American Surety Company. He 
took with him Henry D. Lyman, who had been Chief 
Clerk of the Bureau of which I was the head, and later 
was Chief Clerk of the Second Assistant's Department, 
and then Second Assistant Postmaster General. The 
large company they founded was successful. General 
Elmer died, and eventually Mr. Lyman became the 
President and has held the position for many years. 
Mr. Lyman has remarkable capacity in very many 
directions, and exhibited the qualities while a young 
clerk, which caused him to be promoted over all others 
to Chief Clerk, a selection approved by all of his fellow 
clerks. I used to think that he could do anything that 
he wished to do. He was asked to codify the statutes 
and decisions affecting post-office criminal laws, and 
when he set about it he found that there was no ade- 
quate system of indexing in use, and he proceeded to 



284 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

invent one and get it copyrighted. All the leading law 
publishers in the country made arrangements and paid 
him a royalty. The United States Government also 
paid him a handsome sum for the use of the system 
in publishing United States Statutes. Before he en- 
tered our office he had a turn of rather bad health, and 
being through school was idle a short time with his 
father, who lived in Washington, and who was Chief 
of the Bureau of Navigation of the Treasury Depart- 
ment, and who was frequently called the lexicon or en- 
cyclopedia of the treaties and laws affecting the Treas- 
ury Department. While idle, young Lyman visited a 
new billiard hall in the neighborhood of his boarding- 
house, which was then in charge of the great French 
player Carme, and practiced a little by himself in the 
morning hours. Carme's attention was attracted, and 
he showed Lyman much about the game. Lyman 
found some books to study on the subject, and after a 
while Carme entered him in the amateur tournament 
at Philadelphia, and Lyman secured the gold-mounted 
cue as a trophy. He was fond of playing chess and 
draughts, especially checkers, and used to solve the 
problems published in the organs of the checker clubs, 
and when he was in my office he used to play occa- 
sionally at the Washington Chess and Checker Club. 
Then he compiled and published a book on the subject. 
One day Lyman brought Wyllie, a canny little Scotch- 
man, the champion of the world, in to see me. He had 
been brought to this country by the checker clubs to 
play in all the cities. Lyman withdrew for a few mo- 
ments, and Wyllie gave me a very interesting talk 
about devoting himself to checkers and playing cham- 
pionship games in various parts of the world, and so 
on, and also what his plan was for compensation, and 



POSTAL SECRET SERVICE 285 

what his personal habits were to keep his mind in 
shape for playing, and he incidentally remarked, " This 
young man in your office is the greatest analyst of the 
game I ever knew." I asked whether he meant one 
who preserved the annals (as Lyman had published a 
book) or whether he meant a man who could analyze 
the game. He said, " I mean a man who can analyze 
the game. If he saw fit to devote himself to checkers, 
he would be the greatest player in the world, in my 
opinion." Lyman seemed able to improve anything 
he wished, and I have been told that the forms and 
rules used by the Insurance Company of which he is 
President show his versatile ability in very many ways. 



CHAPTER VIII 

SOME RECOLLECTIONS OF PUBLIC MEN 

I SAW President Johnson only at a distance, and 
never had any conversation with him. During his 
entire term I served as Special Agent of the Post-Office 
Department in Virginia, but on one occasion I received 
an order to turn over my keys and commission to the 
First Assistant Postmaster General at once, as my ser- 
vices had been discontinued. I went up to Washington 
that night and tendered my commission and post-office 
keys to the First Assistant. The Special Agents at 
that time, as are the Inspectors at present, were given 
the keys of all the different mail locks in use. I was 
unable to find out why I had been removed, until I 
went to the Second Assistant Postmaster General, Hon. 
George W. McLellan, one of the finest old gentlemen 
I ever knew, and asked him if he knew about it. 

" Oh, yes, I know something about it," he said. 
" What do you go around making speeches for in Vir- 
ginia against the administration? I thought better of 
you than that." 

" I never made a speech in my life," I replied. 
" Never tried to talk on my feet at all. Could n't make 
a speech if I wanted to, and don't want to make a 
speech. What do you mean ? " 

" Why," he answered, " did n't you make this 
speech ? " and he handed me clippings from a news- 
paper published at Woodstock, Virginia, which said, 





^0 








■T^ 


ht 






j^ 
















Bl^^^^^ '** 


;> 

^^^m 




Ip' ^%S|p^^H^H| 


He 


iP>^ 




'J 


Ksir 







President Chester A. Arthur 



RECOLLECTIONS OF PUBLIC MEN 287 

" Porter, the Post-Office Agent for this State, then 
dehvered the following incendiary harangue." I 
gflanced down a few lines and saw that he uttered the 
mild sentiment that Andrew Johnson ought to be hung 
as high as Haman. I saw the mistake at once. There 
was a politician named Charles H. Porter, extremely- 
radical, not in general favor with white Republicans in 
the State, who was making extreme speeches, and the 
newspaper had confounded him with me. Just then 
the Postmaster General, A. W. Randall, who had ap- 
parently overheard some of our conversation, stepped 
in and offered me his hand. 

" Well, how 's the great American radical who wants 
to see the President hung as high as Haman? " 

" He did n't make that speech," interrupted Mc- 
Lellan. " Charles H. Porter made that speech, and the 
newspapers confounded him with our man who is n't 
making any speeches." 

" Oh! that is it, is it? Well, you just hang around 
here and come in to-morrow." 

The next morning I called, and the Postmaster Gen- 
eral said, " That order is revoked. You go back and 
tend to your business." 

" I don't know as I can afford to," said I. " That 
order has got into the papers, and I suppose it 
will be thought that I have come up here and 
changed my politics. I am a Republican and a mem- 
ber of the Republican State Committee, Mr. Randall. 
I am not a Democrat, and I am not following Mr. 
Johnson into the Democratic party. The Richmond 
papers, as I understand, say that I was removed for 
being a radical Republican, and if I go back they will 
say that I have come up here like some others have and 
crawfished." 



288 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

" Never mind that. You go back and tend to your 
business," said Governor Randall. 

The day that he handed over the Department to 
Postmaster General Creswell, after General Grant's 
inauguration, I happened to meet Governor Randall 
in the hall of the Department, and he took me into the 
office of the Appointment Clerk and said : 

" I want to show you how many times your removal 
was ordered. There was an old Virginia shyster who 
used to be a clerk here before the war, and who went 
South to be a clerk in the Confederate offices. After- 
wards he got a pardon from the President, and thought 
he could get your place. He kept writing the Presi- 
dent, and here you will see a letter of his and the Presi- 
dent has written on the back, in blue pencil, ' A. W. R. 
Look into this matter. Apparently this Agent in Vir- 
ginia ought to be removed. A. J.' Well, such as that 
I could just pigeon-hole, — nothing ever thought of 
it, — but in my absence this letter from that applicant 
came with this newspaper clipping enclosed. The let- 
ter reads, in part, ' You can see what kind of a man 
your bread and butter Postmaster General is keeping 
in office down in Virginia, a man who says he wants 
to see you hung as high as Haman.' On the back of 
that you will see written, * A. W. R. Remove this 
unworthy official at once. A. J,' When that came 
down, and I was away in New York, the First Assist- 
ant, of course, acted upon it, as he was Acting Post- 
master General, but upon my return you explained that 
you did n't make that speech, so I put the papers in my 
pocket and when I went up to cabinet meeting I said, 
* Mr. Johnson, we have made a mistake. We have 
removed a man down in Virginia named Parker for 
making a speech made by Charles H. Porter. A coun- 



RECOLLECTIONS OF PUBLIC MEN 289 

try newspaper down there has confounded their names.' 
' Oh, well,' said Mr. Johnson, 'if an injustice has been 
done, correct it at once, Mr. Randall.' I did n't go 
into further explanation, and reinstated you. I 
thought I would let you see the trouble I had to keep 
some men in office." 

I saw Mr. Johnson riding in a carriage in Richmond 
just before his inauguration as Vice-President. My 
brother, as Captain of the Guard, had charge of the 
mail steamer running from Washington to Richmond, 
and told me that he gave up his stateroom to Vice- 
President Johnson and Colonel Browning, who accom- 
panied him. Colonel Browning came to my brother 
after the steamer had been out several hours, and said 
that they had made a mistake and had not brought 
along enough whiskey, and asked him if he thought 
he could get any on board. My brother said that he 
had a case under the lower berth in their room which 
had been presented to him, and which he had never 
opened because he did not drink, and that they were 
welcome to it. When the boat arrived in Richmond, 
Mr. Johnson w^as unable to walk without assistance. 
The next day no one called upon him, and he stayed 
in his room stewed with liquor and had his meals 
brought there. He returned to Washington on the 
boat with my brother and drank all the way back. I 
could readily believe Senator Stewart's story that when 
soon after this they found him and had him sworn in 
as President, he was grossly intoxicated. 

Intemperate habits, which grew upon Mr. Johnson 
after middle life, clouded his reputation and usefulness 
seriously; but there is much to be said in commenda- 
tion of his course as a staunch Union defender. He, 
with Parson Brownlow, Horace Maynard, Emerson 



290 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

Etheridge, and other leaders, kept East Tennessee, a 
large proportion of whose mountain inhabitants were 
liberty-loving and brave, common people, and not as 
a general thing owning slaves, true and loyal to the 
Union cause as represented by Mr. Lincoln and Con- 
gress and the army. The great natural abilities and 
personal bravery of Andrew Johnson could not be 
questioned. A conductor on the East Tennessee Road, 
running from Lynchburg to Bristol, and who had occu- 
pied that position before the war for many years, told 
me that he had charge of the train which took Mr. 
Johnson on board at Lynchburg on his return home 
after delivering his great speech for the Union in the 
Senate in the session of '60 and '61. The speech had 
been widely printed in Virginia, and a very outspoken 
secession newspaper in Lynchburg had vigorously de- 
nounced Mr. Johnson. The Superintendent of the 
railroad. Colonel Owen, who, I think, was the father 
of the present Oklahoma Senator, telegraphed the 
conductor of the train coming from Washington to 
warn Mr. Johnson that a mob had gathered for the 
purpose of lynching him, and suggested that he had 
better leave the train at some station before the arrival 
at Lynchburg. But Mr. Johnson refused, and at 
Lynchburg walked boldly into the crowd and spoke 
to them, appealing to them to stand by the Union. The 
mob had even brought a rope to hang him with, but 
he faced them down so coolly that they allowed him to 
proceed to his home. 

With General Grant, as I have said before, I was 
well acquainted, and I felt that I always possessed his 
confidence. I saw President Hayes only a few times, 
but in several cases when he requested that I should 
do so, I went to the White House to explain the reports 



RECOLLECTIONS OF PUBLIC MEN 291 

of Post-Office Inspectors, and he was very cordial and 
kind to me. He had a way of sending small cards 
with penciled instructions to the Department, and on 
several occasions when there was a protracted and 
heated contest over the appointment or removal of 
some postmaster, and Congressmen and Senators and 
delegations were calling upon him in connection with 
the case, he wrote on a card to the Postmaster General, 
" Ask Parker to investigate this personally. R. B. H." 
Finally, they came so fast that they kept me trotting 
about the country, but he always respected the report 
that I made, which in almost every case coincided with 
the reports of Inspectors who had had the case before. 
I knew General Garfield quite well. While he was 
Member of Congress, I had on my force a Captain 
Charles E. Henry, who was perhaps General Garfield's 
closest friend. They were schoolmates at Hiram Col- 
lege. They went to the army together, and after Gar- 
field was made a General, he had Captain Henry on his 
staff. At the close of the war Garfield got Henry ap- 
pointed a Post-Ofiice Inspector, and he was one of the 
very valuable officers of the Department. When Gar- 
field was inaugurated President, he appointed Captain 
Henry United States Marsl al for the District of Co- 
lumbia in order to have Henry near him. The Cap- 
tain and I boarded in the same house, and were always 
intimate. General Garfield, whenever he met me, 
would say, "Well, how's Charlie doing now?" or 
something of that sort. When General Garfield made 
a tour of the State of New York in furtherance of his 
candidacy for President, he went to New York by the 
New York Central Road and returned West by the 
Erie Road on a special train provided by the New 
York State Committee, Chairman T, C. Piatt accom- 



292 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

panying the train as far as Owego. I received a tele- 
gram in Washington from Captain Henry asking me 
to come over in time to go with the party up the Erie 
Road, leaving New York at nine o'clock in the morn- 
ing, which I did. Mr. Garfield spoke at every station. 
He was accompanied by Senator Kirkwood of Iowa, 
Senator Benjamin Harrison of Indiana, and Congress- 
man Williams of Michigan. He spoke about ten min- 
utes genern.lly, sometimes longer, and then one of the 
others would speak after him. General Garfield's ap- 
pearance that day was very fine, and the impression 
that he made upon those who heard him seemed very 
striking. He was full of enthusiasm and vigor, and 
was felicitous in his remarks. The last speech was de- 
livered at Olean, and a Committee from Chautauqua 
County and the Chautauqua Assembly met him at Sala- 
manca and escorted him to the Chautauqua Assembly, 
where he remained over Sunday. I left the party at 
Randolph, my home station. 

Senator Kirkwood, war Governor of Iowa, had 
more the appearance of a farmer than of a statesman, 
but was one of the very able and sound Lincoln style 
of men. He prepared himself to fire a direct shot at 
the target every time that he spoke; for example, his 
first speech was at Goshen in Orange County, and as 
we neared there he turned to me and said : 

" What is the nature of my place that I am to speak 
at here? Is that the famous butter place? " 

" Yes," I replied, " Orange County is famous for 
its butter, which is its chief industry, but they also raise 
very fine Hambletonian horses." A few minutes later 
at Goshen he said : 

" Our Democratic friends claim that there is scarcely 
the slightest difference between their platform and 



RECOLLECTIONS OF PUBLIC MEN 293 

ours, between their principles and ours, that they have 
changed and we are now in accord, but speaking to you 
as farmers of Orange County, the most famous butter 
county in the whole United States," and then he re- 
ferred to what the newspapers for several days had 
been publishing, namely, the report of a chemist em- 
ployed by the State of New York that oleomargarine, 
which was then being made for the first time, could not 
be told from butter, that it was harmless, that it looked 
like butter and tasted like butter, and that there was 
no reason why it should be placed under the ban of the 
law, as the farmers were demanding it should be ; and 
Senator Kirkwood added, " They say their platform is 
just like ours, but you farmers of Orange County won't 
accept a thing because it looks like the genuine, and 
tastes like the genuine, and can hardly be told from the 
genuine. You want the genuine thing. You don't 
want any oleomargarine." The enthusiasm and ex- 
citement of that crowd of several hundred Orange 
County farmers passed all bounds, and he displayed the 
same faculty of fitting his remarks to the place where 
he spoke, over the whole length of the Erie Road. 

Senator Harrison sat in a seat by himself and read 
a book. When the Committees visited the train and 
accompanied it a short distance, they were always in- 
troduced to Senator Harrison, but he seemed diffident, 
and although he rose and spoke and shook hands, they 
left him speedily as though he had cast a pall over 
them. His speeches, however, were excellent. Mr. 
Williams of Michigan was a very popular stump- 
speaker, and did much to enliven things. 

I saw General Garfield only twice after he was in- 
augurated President. He sent word to William B. 
Thompson, the Superintendent of the Railway Mail 



294 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

Service, and myself by Captain Henry, that he wished 
we would come to him freely, out of hours, or any time 
with anything that we thought he ought to know about 
post-office affairs. He always seemed very frank and 
cordial in his intercourse with those he met. 

I attended several days at the trial of Guiteau, Gar- 
field's assassin. He appeared frivolous. When wit- 
nesses were being examined, he would interrupt with 
a question, and almost always the question was calcu- 
lated to bring an answer that would cause a smile, at 
which Guiteau seemed to delight, and looked about 
the court-room for approval. He did not appear to 
have any realization of his position; and I think the 
feeling was general that he was a man of unbalanced 
mind; but the opinion expressed by the distinguished 
expert who examined him that " the prisoner is of un- 
sound mind, but he is sane enough to be held respon- 
sible for his act " was accepted. I thought him egotis- 
tical and really silly. There are such men about Wash- 
ington at all times. They seem to come there from all 
over the country, and no doubt it is true, as the dis- 
tinguished doctor said, that these men are capable of 
understanding enough of the responsibility for their 
acts to be impressed and restrained by the convictions 
and executions of other criminals. 

President Arthur I had met in New York several 
times, and while I did not see him at the White House 
very often during the time that I remained in office 
under him, I had, on several occasions, evidence of his 
confidence, especially when he appointed me postmaster 
at Washington. I have a very high opinion of his 
patriotism, ability, and entire fitness for the posi- 
tion. I never knew cases that were contested in the 
Post-Office Department, and carried before the Presi- 



RECOLLECTIONS OF PUBLIC MEN 295 

dent, to be decided with more wisdom than he exer- 
cised, and his decisions were independent of pohtical 
influence. I will mention the matter of the postmis- 
tress at Randolph, New York. The office was filled by 
a Mrs. Owen, who had held it some twelve years. She 
was the widow of a soldier, and the mother of several 
daughters who were being well educated and who 
assisted in the conduct of the office. My family lived 
five miles away, but our mail came there, and the post- 
mistress was well known to my wife, who respected 
her. On one occasion when I was home over Sunday, 
I was told that Mrs. Owen wished to see me before I 
went back, so Monday morning, when I went to take 
the train, I called at the post-office. She told me that 
her term was about to expire, and she was in doubt 
whether the Congressman would recommend her for 
reappointment. 

" Now," she said, " I want you to help me through. 
You are in the Department and can." 

" Mrs. Owen," I replied, " I have but a few mo- 
ments, but I will give you some advice, as being a Post- 
Office official I would give anyone else. You are seek- 
ing reappointment when your term is out. Your proper 
course is to get a petition from your patrons, and ob- 
tain it at once, get also letters from prominent cus- 
tomers of the office who are known, and send them to 
the Member of Congress. Write him and keep writing 
him, and leave the matter in his hands." 

She burst out crying and said, " Then you decline? " 

" I would even decline to sign your petition, Mrs. 
Owen. People here know that I am in the Post-Office 
Department, and they would pass the word about that 
I was seeking to exercise an influence because I hap- 
pened to be in the Department to procure the appoint- 



296 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

ment of a postmaster, so you had better tell everyone 
that you get on your petition that you asked me to sign 
it and I declined. You can say that I said that, being 
an officer of the Department, I thought I ought not to 
sign your petition, and that the citizens here ought to 
name their own postmaster." She did as I directed, 
but she called up my wife and said that she had never 
been so surprised in her life as she had been when I 
plainly showed her that I was not her friend. My wife 
merely told her to follow my advice. She got up a 
petition and sent it to the Congressman. She also sent 
letters. Her petition, although hastily secured, em- 
braced nearly every patron of the office whose signa- 
ture w^ould be desired. 

The Congressman did not file her papers, nor did he 
send her any word other than acknowledging the re- 
ceipt of the letters and petition and saying that they 
would be duly filed. But a relative of his living at 
Randolph went about getting up a petition. By getting 
the signatures of some section hands who were work- 
ing on a change in the railroad work, and the patrons 
who lived farthest from the office, he obtained one 
more in number than Mrs. Owen had on her petition. 
He did not, however, have the business men of either 
party nor the leading men of the village. Eventually 
the Member of Congress filed both petitions and rec- 
ommended the appointment of his relative. The New 
York clerk asked me one day to step in to the First 
Assistant's office with him and said to the First Assist- 
ant, " Here are the papers in that Randolph case, and 
I have not told Mr. Parker about them, but he lives 
there, and I think, perhaps, you would like to let him 
see how the case stands." After being informed, I had 
a conversation with the Postmaster General and told 



RECOLLECTIONS OF PUBLIC MEN 297 

him the facts in the case, and he said that he would 
look after it a little; that he thought the President 
ought to know all about it. The case hung along and 
the term expired, but as the postmistress was in office 
it was no injury to her, except the suspense. Every 
time that I went home I was besieged by people she 
would send to me at my home, and I simply told 
them to wait and let the case take its course. Mrs. 
Owen hailed me as I went by and said that she could 
not stand it, she must go to Washington, and I told 
her to stay at home and tend strictly to her duties. 
The Postmaster General said one day, after cabinet 
meeting : 

" The post-office at Randolph has come up, and the 
President says the Member of Congress is persistent, 
and Mr. Warren of Buffalo and other intimate friends 
of the President have written him upon the subject 
asking him to make the appointment that the Member 
of Congress desires. I told him what you said, and he 
asked me to tell you to make a written statement, as 
you happened to live there. Make a statement as re- 
quested by him, and for him." I immediately wrote 
the President, saying: 

" As you request through the Postmaster General 
that I should make a statement regarding the appoint- 
ment of a postmaster at Randolph, New York, where 
I reside, I will say: the postmistress is a soldiers 
widow, a most estimable lady, administering the post- 
office in a manner meeting the approval of its patrons, 
and, in fact, exceptionally well in every respect. She 
asks a reappointment, and her opponent is a citizen 
of the place who did not serve in the army and has not 
been a prominent citizen in any sense. His reputation 
in some respects is rather inimical to his selection as 



298 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

postmaster. He is said to have an ungovernable tem- 
per. The ladies of the village support the postmistress. 
The soldiers of that neighborhood, and in fact of the 
whole county, feel an interest in the case, as she is the 
widow of a soldier who lost his life. Her petition, as 
I know the people, has upon it the names of nearly all 
the patrons of the office, and every citizen of real 
prominence of both parties has recommended her 
appointment." 

The President read my statement and told the Post- 
master General that he would send her name to the 
Senate. The very next morning, when I came to my 
office in the Department, I found Mrs. Owen there. 
She said: 

" I could not stay at home. I have come on and just 
arrived here to make a final appeal to you for help." 

" Now," said I, " you go to the F Street side of this 
building and you will catch a car there that will take 
you right to the Capitol. Go to the Committee on 
Naval Affairs, of which our Member of Congress is 
a member, and which he visits mornings before going 
to the house. Go right to his Committee room, and if 
he is n't there wait until he comes. When he comes, 
tell him that you are anxious for his influence for your 
appointment, and that you have just arrived by 
train." 

" Oh, I won't." 

" You came to me first here to ask my assistance, 
did you not? " 

" Yes." 

" I tell you to do that. Now do it." 

She did, and that evening she hunted out my board- 
ing-place and reported as follows : 

" I went to the Member of Congress, and he told me 



RECOLLECTIONS OF PUBLIC MEN 299 

that he would frankly say to me that he could not rec- 
ommend my appointment; that he had recommended 
my opponent and that he would be appointed. I made 
up my mind that I was defeated and concluded to go 
home, but I saw in the paper that there was an after- 
noon reception at the White House and I went, not 
intending to say a word to the President about my case, 
but to attend the reception. I never had been in Wash- 
ington before. The usher asked me my name, and I 
handed him my card, and as the line approached the 
President, the gentleman read out the card, ' Mrs. 
Josephine C. Owen, Postmistress at Randolph, New 
York.' The President greeted me kindly and said, ' I 
suppose you are down here to see about your appoint- 
ment, Mrs. Owen.' I said, * Yes, sir, and from what 
I heard I am disappointed.' He said, ' Never mind, 
You will be appointed to-day or to-morrow.' " 

She had hunted up my boarding-house to thank me 
and to weep in the hall. The appointment, however, 
was not confirmed, but was held up at the request of 
the Member of Congress by Senator Miller of New 
York, a member of the Post-Office Committee. The 
Member of Congress also persuaded various associates 
to importune the President, and finally induced Mr. 
Warren of Buffalo and Mr. Hastings of New York, 
two of the President's dearest friends, to go to Wash- 
ington and urge that the Member of Congress felt 
that his political life was at stake; that that appoint- 
ment had worked into such a position that it meant 
more to him than any other appointment could in his 
District. The Postmaster General told me that the 
President said to them: 

" I feel that I am right, gentlemen, and I cannot 
change my action unless I have additional light." 



300 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

The fourth of March came, and President Arthur 
sat in the room ofif of the Senate signing the final bills. 
The President sent for Senator Miller and asked if 
they could confirm that post-office appointment in 
Randolph. The Senator replied: 

" We are to have an Executive Session before we 
adjourn for a few cases, and I have told the Congress- 
man that I should have it confirmed unless you with- 
drew it. I think you had better withdraw it for the 
sake of harmony." The Member of Congress also 
made a final appeal, and the President said : 

'* I am sorry to go contrary to your wishes, and I 
have not in any other case that I know of. I am sure, 
in this case, that I am doing right, and although my 
friends have importuned me to give way to your rec- 
ommendation, I shall not do it." 

She was confimied, and continued in office the whole 
of her term. 

As I resigned from Government service during 
President Arthur's term, I had no official acquaintance 
with any subsequent President. 

Once in Buffalo I was invited to go to lunch with a 
couple of friends at a German restaurant on Exchange 
Street, and we were served by Peter Morganhagen and 
his wife to a substantial meal in the back room of the 
restaurant, the dishes being prepared by Mrs. Morgan- 
hagen in the German style of cooking. Mr. Morgan- 
hagen brought us a bottle of Rhine wine and asked us 
to share it with him, saying that he had brought it 
from his old home in Germany the year before. This 
led one of my friends who, while we were walking to 
the place, had said he would make Peter tell us about 
getting through the Custom House, to say to him : 

" Let 's see, Peter, when you came back from Ger- 



RECOLLECTIONS OF PUBLIC MEN 301 

many, did n't you have a lot of trouble in the New 
York Custom House? " 

" Well, we had a little trouble for a while," said 
Peter. " The way of it was this : Greiner and I had 
been talking about going back to Germany for the last 
ten years, and finally we got off and visited our old 
town and had a great time. They make a great many 
toys there, some of them of the kind we never saw in 
this country, and we both had a lot of them given to 
us, and we made up a big trunkful to give to all the 
grandchildren and the children of all of our friends 
here and brought it along. We were told that as it 
was for presents we would n't have any trouble about 
the Custom House duties. Of course, the wine that 
we bought we shipped in the regular way and paid 
duty on, but when we got to New York those fellows 
not only would n't pass that trunk of toys, but they 
put on great duties and penalties and talked about 
arresting us for smugglers, and they were mean as 
they could be, and I just told them, * We will be back 
here and tend to this business.' We went away. 
Neither Greiner nor I am very much used to writing 
letters, but we got up a letter to President Cleveland, 
and we told him about it, and we asked him to help 
us out of the trouble, if he could. And when we went 
back to the wharf, I tell you everybody was just bow- 
ing and scraping. They could n't do enough for us. 
There were no duties and no penalties and no nothing 
but just apologies, and I guess we rubbed it into those 
fellows a little bit. Then we came home, and when 
we got home we got this letter." 

He produced a letter, which was much worn and 
which was addressed on the envelope to Mr. Greiner 
but was addressed on the inside to " My dear old 



302 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

friends," giving both names, with Morganhagen's 
name first. 

" Now," said Morganhagen, " I wish you would give 
me your opinion on this ; we cannot settle the question. 
The letter carrier delivered it to him, so he says he has 
got a right to keep it, but I told him, ' The President 
has put my name in first, so I have got a right to keep 
it,' and we have wrangled over it until we decided we 
just each of us keep it awhile to show to our friends, 
and I happened to have it now when you came." 

The letter was, in substance, as follows : 

My Dear Old Friends, — I received your letter, but 
you do not give me any address in New York, so I will 
have to write you at Buffalo ; but I sent for a Treasury 
man and told him to send over word to have those things 
released, and if there was any duty to be collected, to 
send me the bill and I would remit it at once ; and no doubt 
it was done and you got your things all right and I 
have n't had any bill and I presume I won't. I am glad 
to have the occasion to be of some service to you, and 
remember me to all my old German friends in Buffalo. 

Grover Cleveland. 

An old friend, a lawyer in Buffalo and who was 
City Attorney, told me that when he was a law stu- 
dent in the office of one of the leading law firms 
in Buffalo, Grover Cleveland was in another leading 
firm's office in the same capacity. Everything had to 
be copied in long hand in those days, and it often hap- 
pened that one of them would acknowledge service 
upon his firm by the other without really having 
copies served, and then occasionally some out-of-town 
client of one of the firms would be in Buffalo attending 
to court business, and would invite the clerk to the 



RECOLLECTIONS OF PUBLIC MEN 303 

theater or some other entertainment in the evening. 
In those cases the hicky one would try to work the 
other in on the invitation, and generally succeeded. 
They had not been admitted to the bar, but were per- 
mitted to practice in a Justice's Court, and it happened 
that in a small case they were on opposite sides. 
Justice Gardner fixed a time for the trial, and told 
them he would give them the afternoon, and would 
hold them down to the rules of evidence, and see 
what there was in them. They fought over the 
case for a whole afternoon, each one abusing the 
other more or less and abusing the opposing client 
a great deal, so that their clients were well satisfied. 
Cleveland won the case, and the Justice complimented 
them both. After it was over, Cleveland turned to 
my friend and said : 

" Well, we have had our first case, and I think we 
both did pretty well. I have n't any money, but you 
probably have. Your client was a bar-tender, and 
probably he paid you." 

" No," said my friend, " he promised to pay me 
$10 next week. Maybe he will have to steal the 
money; I don't know." 

" Well," said Cleveland, " I know of a German 
around here on Exchange Street who will slate me for 
suppers. Let 's go and celebrate our first trial." 

They were similarly situated: a relative, in each 
case, was paying their necessary expenses while acquir- 
ing a knowledge of the law, and they had but very little 
spending money. However, they went around to Peter 
Morganhagen's and ate a sumptuous supper. 

Mr. Cleveland's hold upon his German friends in 
Buffalo was always firm, and they supported him for 
all offices where he was a candidate. Morganhagen 



304 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

said to us, " We Germans always stood by Cleveland. 
•We know he is honest, and we know he will work hard 
in the office he holds." The recent elaborate tributes 
to the memory of Mr. Cleveland hardly say more than 
this honest German said. 

In 1897 the annual G. A. R. Encampment was held 
in Buffalo. In the capacity of President that year of 
the Veteran Association of the Seventy-second New 
York, I telegraphed General Sickles to inquire whether 
he was going to be present. He answered that he 
could not be there, as he had to deliver an address at 
the unveiling of a monument to his friend Edwin M. 
Stanton at Steubenville, Ohio, the second day of the 
Grand Army Encampment. The Bell Telephone Com- 
pany of Buffalo, of which I was Vice-President and 
General Manager, had a large vacant room, which had 
just been vacated by a bank, on West Seneca Street 
near Main, which I placed at the disposal of the Vet- 
eran Association, and we put out a sign, " Headquar- 
ters of Sickles Brigade," and put an announcement to 
that effect in the newspapers. We soon received a tele- 
gram from General Sickles that he would be able to 
reach Buffalo Wednesday morning, and I met him at 
the train and took him to the Niagara Hotel to be my 
guest. The rooms had all been engaged long before- 
hand, but it happened that an apartment was vacated 
on the ground floor, and I secured it for General 
Sickles, who moves about on crutches, his leg having 
been amputated near the hip, which prevents his going 
up and down stairs. President McKinley and Mrs. 
McKinley were guests at the house, with several mem- 
bers of his cabinet, and also Governor Black of New 
York and staff. A notice was placed in all the 
papers that a reception would be given General 



RECOLLECTIONS OF PUBLIC MEN 305 

Sickles at the brigade headquarters on West Sen- 
eca Street at one o'clock, and quite a crowd collected. 
Veterans from all of the regiments of the original 
Sickles Brigade, which he raised and commanded, were 
there and were all very enthusiastic in greeting the 
General, who returned their salutations with cordiality. 
He was called upon to make a speech, and asked us to 
lift him up on the table and set a chair there for him, 
so he could look everybody in the face. This was 
done, and he spoke interestingly about the war and the 
veterans, and his speech was reported at the time. He 
closed by saying: 

" We veterans have a friend now in the White 
House. William McKinley will always be found to be 
a friend of the soldier. By the way, he asked me this 
morning to name some office of importance under the 
Federal Government that I would accept, and I told 
him there was but one office that I would take. If he 
would declare war for Cuba, I would go there as its 
first Governor, and I can assure you, and the people of 
the country, that William McKinley's sympathies are 
with Cuba, and that he will be found in the right place 
when circumstances require action." 

This was a most significant utterance at that par- 
ticular time. General Sickles had been Minister to 
Spain, and was familiar with the situation. The coun- 
try was being agitated over the question of interfering 
for the liberty of Cuba, and President McKinley had 
not before been quoted as being in favor of any action 
in Cuba's behalf. 

While the General was speaking, he inquired if there 
was any soldier present who remembered him after his 
wound at Gettysburg, and said that he had received a 
letter from the Adjutant General of the army within 



3o6 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

a few days, asking him for particulars regarding his 
being carried off from the field. A man spoke up and 
said that he was the Chief Musician of the First Regi- 
ment, and that the musicians acted as stretcher bearers 
at the battle of Gettysburg; that he happened to be 
near when General Sickles was wounded, and with two 
other musicians bore him from the field. 

" Tell us about it," said General Sickles. 

" You were placed upon the stretcher," continued 
the man, " and a doctor applied a tourniquet to your 
limb and you looked very pale, but did n't faint away. 
You directed a staff officer to inform General Birney 
that you had been wounded, and that the command of 
the Third Corps would devolve upon him. Another 
officer came up just then and said, ' The report has gone 
up and down the line that you are killed. General, and 
we are afraid that it will have a bad effect upon the 
men.' You then said to me, ' Feel in my inside pocket 
for my cigar case. Take out a cigar, light it and put 
it in my mouth, and then carry me along the line of 
battle of my Corps ' ; and this was done, and the men 
cheered, and you did n't seem able to reply to them, 
but you puffed the cigar industriously." 

" I guess that is the statement they want," said the 
General, " and I wish you would write it out and send 
it to me." 

General Sickles' career has been a most eventful one. 
When a young man, he was elected District Attorney 
of the City and County of New York, then member of 
the Legislature and of the State Senate, then Secretary 
of Legation to England under James Buchanan as 
Minister. He returned from England in charge of the 
boom to nominate Buchanan for the Presidency, which 
was successful. He was elected to Congress for sev- 



RECOLLECTIONS OF PUBLIC MEN 307 

eral terms before the war and also after the war. He 
was Minister to Spain after the war, Minister in spe- 
cial mission to South America under General Grant, 
commanded the Military Department of the Carolinas 
for a time, was Sheriff of the City and County of New 
York in an emergency period, and his last office was 
Alderman, taken in order to secure certain legislation 
which he and others wanted for the Bronx, where he 
is a large real-estate owner. He has served on various 
commissions, Civil Service Reform Commission, Com- 
mission to mark the Battlefield of Gettysburg, and was 
Brigadier and Major General in the army, and is still 
a Major General of the United States Army on the 
retired list. 

We drove about the city while the encampment was 
going on and visited the G. A. R. camp at Fort Porter. 
Secretary of War Alger had directed that when the 
Major Generals, of whom three or four were present, 
visited the grounds a salute should be fired ; so, as we 
drove into the encampment, twelve guns boomed. Gen- 
eral Sickles was called out of the carriage to go into 
the auditorium and make a speech, and he aroused the 
veterans to great enthusiasm. 

In the evening Leopold Marcus of Buffalo, who at 
the outbreak of the war was a Lieutenant in our regi- 
ment, but who was wounded and resigned, came to the 
hotel with a carriage and took General Sickles, my wife, 
and myself to a reception given at the rooms of one 
of the clubs which had been placed at the disposal of 
the military order of the Loyal Legion. The New 
York Commandery kept open house with its Buffalo 
members as a Committee in Charge, and Mr. Marcus, 
whose son is now one of the Supreme Court Justices of 
the District, acted as our host. I was a member of 



3o8 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

the Loyal Legion but of the District of Columbia Com- 
mandery, so I was not an entertainer but a guest. The 
club rooms were well filled with companions of the 
order and ladies, and there were many greetings of old 
friends and introductions, and some speaking and some 
music by the ladies. General Lew Wallace was there 
with his old friend General McGinnis, who was the 
first Colonel of the regiment that Wallace afterwards 
commanded. These two old friends were inseparable. 
Their arms were locked as they went about the city 
among the soldiers and through the camp and at even- 
ing, as happy as two brothers who had come together 
after a long absence. 

The next day General Sickles said he wished " to see 
how it looked down at Niagara Falls," because while 
in the Legislature he had been instrumental in passing 
the bill that placed the State in the position of sponsor 
for the Falls Park. Mr. Littell, the Manager of the 
Buffalo Street Railroad System, boarded at the hotel, 
and cheerfully placed a car at the disposal of the old 
General and a staff which he enrolled on the spot. 
Mrs. Parker he named Colonel, and Mrs. Littell, 
Major. I could not well go, but sent a young man to 
look after the arrangements, and they had a very jolly 
day. Everywhere they went about the Falls old sol- 
diers would recognize the General and raise a cheer 
for " Dan Sickles." 

That evening I went with him to call upon Mrs. Mc- 
Kinley at her rooms, and General Sickles, who knew 
her well, congratulated her upon the heartfelt atten- 
tion that was exhibited towards her husband by the 
soldiers, but she said : 

"Ah! I don't care about it. If I had had my way, 
he would not be President. I did n't want him to ac- 



RECOLLECTIONS OF PUBLIC MEN 309 

cept the nomination. He has done enough for his 
country, and he owed the balance of his hfe to himself 
and his family and friends in peace and quiet, but it 
was ruled otherwise, and we must make the best of it." 
George C. Gorham of California and Nevada was a 
very brilliant journalist and politician. United States 
Senator Sargent of California was his particular 
friend, and when Sargent was the incoming Senator, 
it was decided that Mr. Gorham should aspire to elec- 
tion as Secretary of the Senate. The outgoing Senator 
from California, Senator Cole, however, was especially 
hostile to Mr. Gorham, and w^hile he would not be a 
member of the next Senate and could not vote for or 
against him, the contest was really made in the preced- 
ing session. Senator Cole electioneered against Mr. 
Gorham very strenuously, and especially inflamed Sen- 
ator Sumner against Gorham by describing Gorham 
as a very vulgar man. He told Senator Sumner that 
in a political altercation Gorham had called him an 
unmentionable name, and Senator Sumner said to sev- 
eral persons, including Senator James Nye of Nevada, 
who was quite a favorite of Senator Sumner, al- 
though considered a rather offhand, rough man him- 
self, that he could not support such a man as Gorham 
for Secretary of the Senate, and that he hoped no such 
man w^ould ever be elected to that office; and he re- 
peated what Senator Cole had told him about the 
epithet that Gorham had applied to Cole. The contest 
seemed to be close, and Sumner's attitude rather wor- 
ried the Pacific Coast gentlemen. Congressman Dag- 
gett from Nevada, who told me this story, was equal 
to the occasion. He proposed a very daring flank 
movement on Senator Sumner. A noted miner, named 
James Collins, who was a Republican, was in the city, 



310 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

from Nevada, and the next evening Collins called at 
Mr. Sumner's elegant bachelor house next the Arling- 
ton Hotel, and asked the colored butler for Senator 
Sumner. The butler replied : 

" You kyant see him now, sah. You will have to 
make an appointment with him at the Senate. He is 
busy in his library and kyant see you unless you have 
made an appointment!" 

" Oh, that 's all right," said Collins. " He is a 
friend of Uxine," and pushed by the astonished butler 
and into the library, the door of which was open. 

Senator Sumner arose, indignant, and said, " To 
whom am I indebted for this intrusion?" but Collins, 
a handsome fellow, well dressed and wearing large 
diamonds, exclaimed : 

" Ah, Mr. Sumner, you are just the man I thought 
you were! I have got your picture. I am from Ne- 
vada, Virginia City, and our Senator Nye got your pic- 
ture for me, and I expect has pestered you considerable 
for your speeches, 'cause I have written him and written 
him to send every word that you ever uttered, until he 
told me that I better let up for a while. I have come 
East on business. I am a miner and interested in mines, 
and I came East to New York to dispose of a mine to 
an English syndicate, and have closed up the business 
and got my pay, but thought I would not go back with- 
out coming by Washington for a few days, and I asked 
Senator Nye to come up and introduce me, but he said 
that he could n't come this evening, and I want to go 
away to-morrow, so I came by myself. We have a 
strong club of miners out in Virginia City and Gold 
Hill, called the Sumner Club. We read your speeches 
to them, and they would n't forgive me if I came back 
without having come to see you. We have got your 



RECOLLECTIONS OF PUBLIC MEN 311 

picture, and we are going to have a portrait painted 
from it to have hung in our club rooms. Oh, you are 
the man for us, all right. We calculate some day to 
vote for you for President, and consider that that day 
is not very far distant. We are working to that end, 
and I can raise not only votes but a pretty sum to help 
when you do run. I would n't mind contributing, well, 
a pretty large amount, up in the thousands, I would 
give freely myself." 

Mr. Sumner still stood erect. " Well, sit down, Mr. 
Collins, sit down, I am quite interested." 

" Oh, I could n't take a chair," said Collins, " I am 
so excited. I really never expected to see you face to 
face like this. I have had an idea that you are just 
about my height. Let 's see ; let 's measure. Just 
about, just about. You are larger, but I believe I could 
throw you, but I would like to see you walk. I have 
read about your walk as you enter the Senate. I am 
sorry that I won't be able to see you there. Just walk 
off across the room once for me. Oh, that 's the thing! 
That 's fine. I want you to understand that we ap- 
preciate and admire all of you leading Republican 



" Tut, tut, tut ! " said Senator Sumner. " What do 
you mean by using those words ? " 

" Oh, forgive me. I had forgotten in my excite- 
ment that I was in the East instead of in the West. 
Why, that 's a term of endearment out there. We 
call people by that name freely and don't think any- 
thing of it. I know that out here it is unpardonable, 
but please overlook it. Well, I don't propose to stay 
here and worry you, and you have got your important 
duties as a statesman to perform. No doubt you 
are studying up the material for one of those great 
speeches." 



312 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

"Give me your name," said Senator Sumner, "and 
perhaps — and I will send you some volumes — pub- 
lic addresses. Did you say that you were going to have 
a large portrait painted ? " 

" Indeed, we are. I suppose I have got as good a 
photograph as there is. Senator Nye sent it to me. I 
think he got it from you." 

" I am not sure about that," said the Senator. " I 
had some in my desk in the Senate, but I will see that 
you have a picture for your club. Don't be in a hurry." 

" Oh, I have to go. I have got quite a number of 
men to see, and I am going away to-morrow and I 
must leave." They shook hands warmly, and Mr. 
Collins withdrew. 

The next day Senator Sumner told Nye he guessed 
that there was not any real substantial reason why he 
should vote against Mr. Gorham; that he had heard 
that he was a gentleman of literary attainments, and 
while he had some Western ways and used some ex- 
pressions that were not proper, he probably would drop 
them in his intercourse with gentlemen in the East. 
Sumner voted for Gorham, and Gorham was elected 
and served as Secretary of the Senate for many years. 

At the time of the campaign in New York that 
elected Governor Cornell, my home was in Randolph, 
and I was in Washington as Chief Post-Office Inspec- 
tor. Robert Marvin, the President of the Jamestown 
Republican Club, telegraphed me asking me to see if 
I could not get some prominent speakers for a meeting 
in Jamestown; that they had applied and done their 
best, but that the speakers assigned were not conspicu- 
ous men. Happening to be in New York, I carried the 
telegram to General Arthur, who was Chairman of the 
Republican State Committee, at the Fifth Avenue 



RECOLLECTIONS OF PUBLIC MEN 313 

Hotel, and as I was going into his room, I met General 
George A. Sheridan, the Register of Deeds in Wash- 
inerton, whom I knew well. I knew that Sheridan was 
one of the best speakers in the country, but I had never 
heard him. I asked him if he were going to speak in 
the campaign in New York, and he said they had sent 
for him and had just handed him a list of ten cities 
where they wanted him to speak in the eastern part of 
the State. I told him I wished we could get him out to 
Jamestown. He said he would like to speak in my 
neighborhood, but that they had given him his assign- 
ments and he did not suppose he could get them 
changed. I asked him to stay around awhile and let me 
see if I could not get him up there. Then I went in 
and showed General Arthur the telegram from James- 
town. There was quite a feeling against the Conklin 
and Arthur wing of the party in the western part of 
the State, which favored Blaine. General Arthur, with 
this evidently in mind, said to me : 

" Why don't you get Blaine to go out there and 
speak? They are all for Blaine out that way, I 
understand." 

" Why," I said, " how could I get Blaine? " 

" He just arrived here this morning," replied Arthur, 
" is in this hotel, upstairs. Go and get him. Tell him 
that I would like to have him go, and will provide for 
his expenses in every way." 

As I reached the office of the hotel, I saw Governor 
Fenton of Jamestown coming in. He went out of the 
party to support Greeley, and had just returned that 
fall, and was supporting Governor Cornell. I showed 
him the telegram and asked him to help get Blaine, 
and he said, " All right. Let 's go and see him, if he 
is in the house." The clerk first said that he was n't, 



314 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

and then that he would n't see anybody, and then sent 
a boy with the cards, and the boy came back with the 
message to come right up. We went up to Mr. Blaine's 
room, and were told in a faint voice to come in, and 
when we got in the room heard him say from the 
bathroom, " Sit down. I will be out in a little while," 
and we waited for him to bathe, and when he came out 
Governor Fenton told him what my mission was. Mr. 
Blaine said : 

" Oh, I cannot go. I have withdrawn from the 
Maine canvass because my voice has given out, and I 
have come down here to get a rest and consult a 
physician." 

" Well," I interrupted, " you don't speak like a man 
with an exhausted voice " ; and Governor Fenton 
urged, " Come up and stay over Sunday with me and 
rest, and you will be able to talk Monday." 

" Well," said Blaine, " I would like to do that, Fen- 
ton, and if they will only put a good man with me that 
I can throw the meeting on to if I don't feel right, I 
will do it. Whom could you get? " 

" I can get George Sheridan," said I. 

" Is that so? " said Blaine. " Certainly I will go at 
once. He is the best political speaker — well, maybe 
barring Bob IngersoU — in the United States. I have 
never heard him, although he has spoken with me a 
number of times, because when I was through I would 
leave the meeting. Don't dare stay on account of catch- 
ing cold, but I know that he is all right." 

I went back to General Arthur, and he changed three 
of Sheridan's meetings to Wellsville, Elmira, and with 
Blaine Monday at Jamestown. I sent a long telegram 
to Marvin and told him to make a feature of Sheridan 
in his announcement. Saturday I arrived home at Ran- 




George A. Sheridan 



RECOLLECTIONS OF PUBLIC MEN 315 

dolpli from Washington and saw large posters up: 
" Grand Republican Rally. Hon. James G. Blaine, of 
Maine, and other speakers will address the meeting 
Monday at two o'clock at the Opera House at James- 
town." I was very indignant, and immediately set the 
local printing office to work printing bills the same size 
announcing : " Hon. James G. Blaine, the Plumed 
Knight of Maine," and, in equally large type, " Amer- 
ica's greatest political orator, Hon. George A. Sheri- 
dan of Louisiana." He had been Member of Congress 
from Louisiana. Then I arranged with some men to 
go out Saturday night to Jamestown and place these 
bills over the others all through town, which they did 
successfully, and Sunday the people saw the different 
bills pasted over those they had seen earlier in the week. 
Monday my wife and I went to Jamestown to attend 
the meeting. When we boarded the train, we found 
George Sheridan, who gave me these directions : 

" Now look here ! On arrival at Jamestown I want 
to go quietly to a quiet room in a good hotel and go 
right to bed. It will be about half-past eleven. I don't 
v^ant to be disturbed, and I want to sleep just about 
an hour. About one o'clock I want them to serve me a 
dinner of a great, thick beefsteak with fried potatoes 
and plenty of coffee and bread, and this is all I want. 
Then I want a barber to come and shave me, and then 
I will go with whoever comes for me to the place of 
the meeting." 

But when we got off the car at Jamestown " Sine " 
Jones, the Republican State Committeeman for the 
District, and Robert Marvin and John A. Hall were 
there to take charge of Sheridan. I told them that 
I wanted to take him right to a hotel, and they looked 
very queer at me and said, " That don't go. We have 



3i6 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

fixed it. He is going to Mr. Hall's house. He is n't 
going to the hotel." I knew Mr. Hall very well, and 
I repeated Sheridan's directions to him. As Mr. Hall 
and Sheridan started off in a carriage, Jones said 
to me : 

" It appears as though you are taking considerable 
responsibility on your shoulders." 

" Well," I said, " after I had succeeded in getting 
those speakers, especially Sheridan — Blaine will draw 
people here, but he can't talk to them like Sheridan — 
you left his name off the bills. What 's the reason of 
it all?" 

" Well," said Jones, " you got his name on the bills 
all right, but we heard from one of our friends in 
Akron, Ohio, when we were talking it over, that this 
Sheridan is a regular low-down bum and will disgrace 
us, and that he will go to a hotel and fill up with whis- 
key and talk in a maudlin way and make a show of him- 
self." I emphatically denounced the statement as a libel 
and a lie, and told them that Blaine would n't have come 
unless we could have gotten Sheridan with him, and 
I quoted Blaine's remark that Sheridan was " the great- 
est political speaker in the country, perhaps barring 
Bob Ingersoll." A little later word came from Gover- 
nor Fenton's that Mr. Blaine felt so well that he would 
make a two-hour speech in the afternoon, and that the 
Committee better have an evening meeting for Gen- 
eral Sheridan at which Mr. Blaine would announce 
him. Sheridan stayed at home quietly in the after- 
noon, and in the evening made the finest political 
speech I ever heard. He enthused the crowded house 
to the greatest degree. Afterwards Jones and Marvin 
took him to the Jamestown Club, and Jones called for 
his special brand of whiskey and said to Sheridan: 



RECOLLECTIONS OF PUBLIC MEN 317 

*' You have given us a great speech, go in now and 
drink all you want." 

" I don't know just what you mean," said Sheridan. 
" It is my practice to sip half a goblet of water with a 
little whiskey poured in it and then go to my room 
and go to bed, being careful to wrap up and not catch 
cold, because I perspire quite freely while speaking " ; 
and that was all we could persuade him to take. 

When Mr. Lincoln made a canvass of Illinois before 
the war and came to Chicago, the Young Men's Repub- 
lican Club put General Sheridan, then a young lawyer 
with fine prospects, forward as the orator to speak with 
him. Mr. Lincoln was so pleased that he asked the 
State Committee to have young Sheridan speak with 
him about the State, and this broke up Sheridan's law 
practice and launched him as a political orator. At the 
close of the war, in which he served as a Captain, he 
went to Louisiana to live and became Adjutant Gen- 
eral of the State and then was elected to Congress. 
He told the audience at Jamestown, " I understand 
that some persons here have confused me with the great 
soldier, General Philip Sheridan. I am not General 
Philip Sheridan, nor was I a great soldier. I am not 
his brother, nor his sister, nor any relation to him 
whatever. I served in the army modestly as a Cap- 
tain, but have been called General because I was Ad- 
jutant General of Louisiana." In various political 
campaigns he spoke with Governor Morton, Senator 
Sherman, General Garfield, Mr. Blaine, and other 
speakers, and was always in great demand. He told 
me many instances of his campaigning with Governor 
Morton and others. When Governor Morton fought 
the greenback craze, he had a very carefully prepared 
speech on the financial question, and always spoke first. 



3i8 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

Sheridan's speech was intended to be lighter and cal- 
culated to enthuse the audience. His speeches ap- 
peared to be impromptu, but he really devoted a great 
deal of time to their preparation. Governor Morton, 
then Senator Morton, used to turn to him and borrow 
a greenback to use as an illustration, and would read 
the note to the audience and say, " This is not money. 
It is a note, a promise to pay money. It says, ' the 
United States will pay one dollar on demand,' that is, 
you present this note and get your money." Senator 
Morton got to cribbing from Sheridan's speech. He 
took first one bright thing after another until, in spite 
of all Sheridan's remonstrances, he left his speech a 
skeleton. Sheridan told Morton that he had worked 
weeks on that speech and could not fill the gaps, and 
threatened to get even with him when he could. 
Finally the time came when Senator Morton was de- 
tained. Sheridan, who had learned every word of 
Morton's speech, got up and began to speak as Morton 
arrived, and delivered Morton's speech from first to 
last, including the turning to Morton and borrowing a 
greenback. Morton was very angry and kept talking 
to him and telling him to stop, and at its conclusion 
Morton put his hand to his throat and excused himself 
to the audience and said he would be unable to speak. 
On the way back to the hotel Morton said, " George, 
I will let you alone if you will let me alone." When 
Sheridan spoke in Mansfield with Senator Sherman, 
who was a very solemn individual, he told the audi- 
ence that Sherman had told him all about his earlier 
life there, and that he had told him about going 
out to Jake Hargas' to steal water-melons. Sherman 
spoke to Sheridan from the back, saying, " Don't you 
tell them such lies as that. They all know it is un- 



RECOLLECTIONS OF PUBLIC MEN 319 

true," but Sheridan invented some more pranks, and 
Sherman never forgave him. Once when campaign- 
ing with Garfield they were told that there was a lawyer 
in the town who would spring some questions about 
taxing the United States bonds, and Garfield was wor- 
ried and said : 

" I hope he will spring it on you, Sheridan, but if 
he springs it on me I will throw it on you some way." 

" All right," said Sheridan, " I will take it." As 
predicted, the lawyer arose in the back of the audience 
and said : 

" I would like to ask a question or two. I would 
like to inquire why the United States bonds in the 
hands of our bloated aristocrats cannot be taxed." 

"You would? What is your occupation, sir?" 

" Well, I pretend to be a lawyer. I have a practice." 

" You pretend to be a lawyer? " 

" Yes." 

** Very well, that 's about it, I guess. Pretend to be 
a lawyer ! You say you have some cases. Do you look 
at your law books ? " 

'" Some of them I do, sir. I did n't ask the question 
to be insulted." 

" But do you ever study the United States Supreme 
Court Reports? " 

" I have examined them some, sir." 

" Don't you know that the Supreme Court of the 
United States decided that those bonds could not be 
taxed?" 

"No, I did not know it." 

By this time the audience was interrupting with 
shouts of " Don't mind him." " He is a crank." " He 
does n't know any law." 

" Well," said Sheridan, " I can say that he is defi- 



320 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

cient as a lawyer," and went on. But the lawyer mus- 
tered up spunk and arose again. 

" Will you please tell me the case in which that de- 
cision was rendered? " 

" And you pretend to be a lawyer and say you have 
some practice! God help your clients. The case, sir, 
is the case of Cooley vs. The United States, reported 
in the 25th of Wallace." ^ 

General Garfield was very much put out and after 
the meeting said : 

" Sheridan, I am afraid of you. You know there is 
no such case and no such decision." 

" But there are just such fools around," said Sheri- 
dan. " What else could I tell him? " 

" Well," said Garfield, " I am glad he did n't ask 
me. I don't want you to do that any more." 

" All right," said Sheridan, " I will give them some- 
thing else." 

The next day after the meeting at Jamestown, I 
joined Mr. Blaine at Cuba, he having gone there on a 
morning train and made a speech. He asked me to 
telegraph ahead, as he had many friends, some of whom 
might perhaps come to the stations. I arranged the 
matter, and there were numbers of people at every 
station, although it was a rainy day, and he shook 
hands and talked to them a little, and Committees and 
others rode short distances with us. He exhibited 
his marvelous memory several times during the day. 
Hon. Hamilton Ward, who had not seen him at the 
meeting at Cuba, but who got on the train and rode 
to Hornellsville, spoke to Mr. Blaine and Blaine said : 

" Ward, do you remember when I first met you ? " 

" No," answered Ward, " although it must have 

1 The last volume of Wallace is Vol. 23! 



RECOLLECTIONS OF PUBLIC MEN 321 

been when I first came to Congress, and you were 
Speaker." 

"I met you," said Blaine, " in the rotunda of the 
Capitol, and you were with Dan Lockwood of Buffalo, 
and he introduced you to me and said that you were 
just elected." 

Blaine turned to speak to someone else, and Ward 
said, " I don't remember about that, but just before 
I took my seat in Congress I was in a lawsuit with 
Lockwood before the Supreme Court, and Lockwood 
said when I went to Washington he would go around 
to the Departments and introduce me." 

To some Binghamton gentlemen Mr. Blaine talked 
about the distinguished citizens of Broome County, 
Daniel Dickinson and others, and spoke of Governor 
Clinton having been born in the county. Some of the 
gentlemen present said, " You are mistaken, Mr. 
Blaine, Governor Clinton was not born in Broome 
County." Mr. Blaine replied, " He was born in the 
southern part of your county, and his family moved 
while he was still small further up on the Hudson." 
They did not dispute further, but Mr. Blaine was 
right and they were wrong. 

I did not see very much of Senator Conklin while in 
Washington, and I did not suppose that he knew me 
until a short time before I left the city. I had been 
introduced to him several times, but at such intro- 
ductions he would barely glance, and say, " How 
do you do?" or "How are you?" and when I met 
him on the street or in a car or any place afterward he 
never recognized me. Visitors to Washington from 
New York, so far as I knew, never called upon him. 
When the Hon. A. G. Dow of Randolph, who had been 
State Senator and State Committeeman, and who knew 



322 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

and entertained a very high respect for Mr. Conklin, 
visited me in Washington, he called upon the other 
New York Senator, but did not go to see Mr. Conklin. 
I never saw him at the Post-Office Department, but one 
evening when I went to the station to take the train 
to New York, and was waiting outside the gates, he 
was walking back and forth by the train inside the 
station and' called out to me by name to come in and 
said that be wanted to talk with me. So I went inside, 
and he took my arm and we walked up and down. He 
said: 

" I thought you went East this morning. I saw by 
the paper that you had accompanied the Postmaster 
General on a trip East." 

" The Postmaster General and Mr. Hazen," said I, 
" went this morning, and I am to meet them to-morrow 
morning in New York and go to Hartford with them." 

" Oh, yes," he said, " I see. How are things out in 
Western New York? " and he talked about politics and 
politicians, showing a thorough knoAvledge of men and 
politics in Western New York. About time for the 
train to leave we passed into the car, and he asked me 
to come into his drawing-room and sit awhile. I did 
so, and he continued the conversation; asked about 
the postal service and showed in every way that he 
knew who I was. The next time I met him he passed 
me as before. I never knew him to seek the appoint- 
ment of a person in our Department. Governor Wells, 
whom I had known well in Virginia, and who had 
moved to Washington, told me that he had an engage- 
ment with Conklin at his house one morning, and 
while he was waiting in the parlor a woman was shown 
in who said she wanted to see the Senator about getting 
an order revoked sending her husband, who was in 



RECOLLECTIONS OF PUBLIC MEN 323 

the Signal Service, away from Washington. Gov- 
ernor Wells had no idea that she could succeed in such 
a mission, but when the Senator came in he said : 

" This lady wishes to speak to you, and I will wait." 

" What is it, my good woman? " 

" My husband belongs in the Signal Service here, in 
the Weather Bureau. He enlisted in that service after 
having served during the war with the understanding 
that he would not be moved, and we have bought a 
little home here. Now he is ordered way off West, and 
I don't understand that there is any reason for it, ex- 
cept that the new Superintendent is going to shift the 
service about. My husband was a New York soldier, 
and I felt free to come and ask you to try and secure 
a revocation of the order. We have a large family of 
children and our home partially paid for." 

" My good woman," said the Senator, " what do you 
think I am elected Senator for? What do you think 
the people of the great Empire State sent me here to 
do, to represent them in the United States Senate and 
consider matters of importance to them and to the 
nation and help make laws, or to be an errand boy, 
running from Department to Department, from pillar 
to post, asking that routine orders should be rescinded, 
and little appointments obtained for New Yorkers? I 
would n't come here to do such work. I can do noth- 
ing for you. Probably the order is a good one, in the 
interests of the service." 

The woman seemed thoroughly broken-hearted and 
arose to depart, but Governor Wells said, " Senator, I 
have my carriage here, and if you would like me to 
do it, I will take this woman to the Department and 
use your name and say that you desire, under the cir- 
cumstances, that the order should be revoked and he 



324 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

be retained in Washington during his enhstment tenn, 
as he was led to think he would be." The Senator 
warmly shook the Governor's hand and said : 

" I thank you, Governor ; do it for the poor woman. 
I cannot do such work, though, myself. I could n't find 
words to talk in her behalf if I went there. Do that 
for me and you will do me a great favor." 

The Governor succeeded, w4th the use of Senator 
Conklin's name, which was really " open sesame " at 
the Departments when he cared to interest himself, in 
having the man retained in Washington, 

I knew Speaker T. B. Reed. He came to the De- 
partment frequently with matters that took him into 
my office, and he was always very gracious and pleas- 
ant when I met him. When my wife and I were 
journeying on the Erie Road through Ohio on one 
occasion, Mr. Reed came into the sleeping-car where 
we happened to be the only occupants. When he saw 
us, he came over to our seat, and while speaking to us, 
he took hold of the rod running along the top of the 
car to which the curtains were affixed when the berths 
were made up and stood there supporting himself by 
his hold of that rod. I realized then what an immense 
man he was. He was in a merry mood. He said that 
he was making a few speeches out there for his friends 
McKinley and Taylor, and that he had spent the even- 
ing before at the station where he had got aboard and 
was going to speak at a place an hour ahead of us. 
I asked him if he found it tiresome to go about making 
speeches. 

" Oh," he said, " it 's all in a lifetime. There is n't 
very much variety in this business, very much less than 
any one would suppose. Now, let me predict what will 
come to me before you leave me, and then you watch 



RECOLLECTIONS OF PUBLIC MEN 325 

out and we will compare notes. About the next sta- 
tion a Committee will come in here. There will be a 
serious, sober, gray-haired man, with billy-goat whis- 
kers, who won't say a word but who will really be the 
rich man of the town. Then there will be a man who 
will do the talking. They will call him Judge, and he 
will talk in quite a learned way to me about the hard- 
ship of traveling, of making speeches, and that it must 
be worrying and tiresome, and he will also refer to my 
career in Congress and he will be quite a talker. Then 
there will be at least two young men, who will be 
smart-looking, well dressed, have a big heavy watch- 
chain hitched in the lower button of the vest and with 
a big Masonic badge on the chain, Knight Templar, 
maybe thirty-second degree badge. These fellows will 
be awfully bashful and they won't say much, but they 
are the workers in that town. They are Committee- 
men. There will be one or two more, but these are 
the types of the Committee. Sometimes I feel like 
having a little fun with them, but it won't do as a rule, 
and I try my best to put them at their ease, for they 
are very bashful generally. Then we will come up to 
the station, and I understand that the town is over 
half a mile from the station and that the speech is to 
be delivered in the village. At the station there will 
be a brass band that will commence tooting long before 
we get there, ' Hail to the Chief ' and maybe ' Hail 
Columbia,' and there will be a big four-horse wagon 
with a lot of little girls on it all dressed in white with 
sashes and flags, bareheaded on this cold day, shivering 
in the cold, but all standing there for liberty, and each 
one of them representing one of the States of the 
Union. Then there will be a fellow with a Grand 
Army hat and a badge, mounted on a horse flying 



326 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

around directing everybody. Then there will be a 
marching club, quite likely, having a banner of first 
voters or something of that kind. Then there will be 
a carriage, provided there is one in that town, most 
likely an open rig, with four horses maybe, and maybe 
two, but most likely four horses, and a very important 
fellow sitting on the box. The Chairman of the Com- 
mittee, probably the Judge, will ride with me in the 
carriage, and he would n't let anybody else in there 
on any ac:ount, and we will go ahead, and the band 
will toot, and the procession will march, the girls will 
shiver and wave their flags, and I will be sorry for the 
children for fear they will take cold." 

The Comiiiittee came aboard, and they were actually 
pretty near as he described them. There was the law- 
yer, and there was the richest man in town, and he did 
have chin whiskers, and there were two young fellows 
with the big watch-chains and the cuffs with big sleeve- 
buttons, and then, when we arrived at the station, 
there was almost identically what he had described; 
and as Mr. Reed got in the carriage he looked back and 
saw we were at the open windows, and he made a big 
sweeping gesture with his arm, as much as to say, 
" Here they are, just as I told you." 

In addition to the time that Mr. Greeley came to 
Richmond to sign the bond of Jefferson Davis, I met 
him on several occasions. Once when in New York I 
called on Samuel Sinclair, publisher of the " Tribune," 
and while we were talking Mr. Greeley came in. 

"Well, Sam," said Mr. Greeley, "I told you I 
would let you know how oats turned out up at Cha- 
pauqua. The straw is more than five feet long, but 
there ain't oats enough on that piece of ground to feed 
a horse once, hardly." 



RECOLLECTIONS OF PUBLIC MEN 327 

" I told you, Mr. Greeley, and so did Mr. Robinson, 
that you were making that land so rich that it would 
just run to straw." 

" Yes, I know you did, Sam, but I have always 
thought you could n't have land too rich to grow grain. 
I will know better next time. Don't tell Robinson. 
Maybe he will find it out, but don't tell him." 

Robinson was the agricultural editor of the paper. 
Mr. Sinclair said that was a fair sample of Mr. 
Greeley's farming; that he was not a farmer, but that 
he did much to encourage farmers, and his newspaper 
was very popular among the farmers of the whole 
country. 

In the fall of 1864, while I was at the house of Colo- 
nel Augustus F, Allen, of Jamestown, Mr. Greeley 
stayed over night there. He did not speak in James- 
town, but he was driven in the morning to Panama, 
where he spoke, and then went on and visited his 
brother in the town of Clymer, Chautauqua County. 
He had been speaking elsewhere in the State. Colonel 
Allen and Mr. Greeley's family were intimate friends, 
and Mrs. Allen's sister, Mrs. Drury, who lived with 
them at that time, had received a letter from Mr. 
Greeley's sister, Mrs. Cleveland, to make him change 
his clothes there, as he had been out a week. So Mrs. 
Drury opened his traveling bag and laid out some 
clean clothes, and reminded him of it before he retired, 
and he said, " All right, all right." There were many 
callers in the evening to see Mr. Greeley, and the large 
parlor was filled with people. He walked about the 
center of the room and talked with everybody there. 
Very many of the people were personal acquaintances, 
as he had once lived in Jamestown and had been there 
from time to time. He was a most entertaining and 



328 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

instructive talker upon general subjects and the poli- 
tics of the country, his remarks being full of well- 
digested information. In the morning Mrs. Drury 
was on the watch for him when he came downstairs, 
and she found he had not changed his clothes. She 
stopped him and said : 

" Now you go right back and change your clothes." 

" Oh," he said, " it does n't make a bit of differ- 
ence, not a bit of difference." 

" Well, Mrs. Cleveland wrote me to be sure and 
make you change your clothes, so you must go up and 
change them." 

" Well, but I am in a hurry." 

" It does n't matter. There is plenty of time, and 
we will wait breakfast. You can't go into breakfast 
until you have gone back and changed your clothes, 
and I will go up and fix your bag for you." 

He went back, muttering, and when he came 
down he had his necktie, which was one of the old 
square black ties, wapsed about his throat and the tie 
sticking up in his ear and his collar turned around, and 
Mrs. Drury unbuttoned his vest and straightened things 
out and got his collar and necktie in the right place, 
and it was disclosed through all this that he wore a red 
flannel shirt and a dicky, which was only a bosom and 
a collar, tied by tapes around the body. She fixed him 
up and allowed him to go into breakfast, and as he sat 
down he said : 

" These women actually make life almost unbear- 
able by their exactions. They are always making a 
fellow change his clothes." 

Mr. Sinclair once told me that Mr. Greeley went to 
Jamaica for his wife and daughter, who had been 
spending the winter down there, and that he met them 



RECOLLECTIONS OF PUBLIC MEN 329 

at the wharf when they returned. The voyage had 
been tempestuous, and all had been sick. Mr. Greeley 
always was when he went on the water. They were 
completely used up, and Mr. Sinclair took them up to 
their city house, and they all straightway started for 
bed. Mr. Sinclair assisted Mr. Greeley, who was very 
weak and somewhat irritable. The trunks had not 
come. The Customs Inspectors did not finish them 
in time so they could be brought. Mr. Sinclair, how- 
ever, found a night shirt in the bureau drawer and 
helped Mr. Greeley to get it on. but it had no buttons 
at all, and Mr. Sinclair tried to find some way of fast- 
ening it on the fat, baby form of Mr. Greeley, v/hen 
he feebly said : 

" Never mind, Sam, it won't button. There are no 
buttons. There never were any buttons. Sam, if Mor- 
monism comes this way, I 'm damned if I won't get 
one wife that will have buttons sewed on things." 

A lawyer acquaintance in New York once told me 
that he was executor for an estate owning some houses 
in a very disreputable neighborhood in the city, and 
that a real-estate agent who attended to the business 
had an office in the basement of one of the houses. He 
went around there one day to see the agent, and as he 
was coming out the doorway to ascend to the sidewalk 
he saw Mr. Greeley close by, walking with his head 
down, muttering, and his overcoat pockets full of news- 
papers. As Mr. Greeley was passing, a woman ran 
down the steps of the house and spoke to him, inviting 
him in. Mr. Greeley stopped and said : 

" No, no, I don't want to go in the house. I 
would n't go in any house that my wife would n't ap- 
prove of, but I will say this to you, young woman, I 
would go in any house, I w^ould go anywhere, if I 



330 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

could be of any real service to you and such as you 
are. Now, if there should be a time that I can really 
do any of you folks any real good, you come to the 
* Tribune ' office and ask for Mr. Greeley. I want you 
to understand that there are some good men and good 
women in this world who would be glad to be real 
friends to you folks, if they could, but it is a hard 
question, and we can't do anything for you unless you 
want us to and tell us how. That 's all. Good-bye " ; 
and he walked away. My friend said the girl went up 
the steps crying. 

The last time I saw Mr. Greeley, he came and took 
a seat by me in the ferry-boat crossing to Jersey City. 
He was going to take the same train that I was, and 
go out to Owego to lecture. It was the winter before 
he was nominated for the Presidency. We conversed 
as we got up and went forward as the boat entered the 
slip, but he stepped a little ahead of me, and a young 
man took my place by his side, and Mr. Greeley said 
to him: 

" You married Chet Howe's daughter, did n't you? " 

" No, I married Mr. Benedict's daughter. He is a 
friend of yours and I met you with him once." 

" Oh, you are another fellow altogether. I thought 
I was talking to this young man back here, but it 's all 
right." 

We went into the depot, and he gave me his ticket to 
Owego, and said, " You get me a berth in the sleeper 
and I will lop down a little, although I am not going 
to ride all night." So I got a lower berth for him 
beside me, my own being already engaged. We con- 
versed for some time, and he " lopped " down, kicking 
off his shoes, which were elastic side gaiters, but so 
loose and old that he could kick them off, and he wore 



RECOLLECTIONS OF PUBLIC MEN 331 

blue, knit woollen stockings. He took off only his 
overcoat and his hat. He showed me a pass when I 
brought his ticket back to him over the Erie Road, an 
annual pass, and said: 

" I have got a pass over this road, but I don't use 
it. I want to be free to criticize Fisk and Gould, and I 
could n't very well do it if I rode on their pass, but 
they send me the pass every year just the same, and 
I make no use of it. Do you know, I can't help but kind 
of admire that Jim Fisk. He is a tough citizen, but 
he is a generous-hearted fellow, and I don't believe 
would lay deep plans to wrong anybody very bad. 
Maybe I am mistaken, but he has some kindly traits." 

Mr. Greeley, in the course of conversation on the 
train, talked about the agricultural future of the coun- 
try, and predicted that the dairy sections of the State 
of New York would eventually be the highest-priced 
land in America. He placed Chautauqua, Cattarau- 
gus, and Allegany, and then jumped to Herkimer, St. 
Lawrence, and Washington, and here and there a 
county, as, in his opinion, the best dairy sections of the 
whole country, but, as in many of his conclusions as 
to agriculture, he seems to have been mistaken. Oleo- 
margarine, however, had not been thought of when he 
expressed this opinion. He said : 

" You will never see the dairy farms of New York 
State sold for less than an average of $60 an acre after 
ten or twenty years." 

Frederick Douglass was the most noted colored man 
of his time. He rose from a slave in Maryland to a 
foremost position as a scholar and leader in matters 
pertaining to his race. In person he was a very com- 
manding presence, nearly white, but with a large head 
of kinky gray hair. I saw him frequently in Washing- 



332 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

ton. He was Registrar of Deeds of the District of 
Columbia by appointment of President Grant, and 
afterward Minister to Hayti. 

On one occasion, several years before I lived in Ran- 
dolph, I visited the place on business, and was enter- 
tained at the home of Judge Henderson. Mr. Doug- 
lass lectured in the village that evening, and Mrs. Hen- 
derson, one of the Committee in charge of the lecture 
course, imated Mr. Douglass to their house, where 
a reception was given him after the lecture. Mr. Doug- 
lass was worried about making connections at James- 
town so as to reach Warren, Pennsylvania, to lecture 
the next evening, and it happened that I found an ac- 
quaintance who had driven some friends from James- 
town and would return in the morning with room in 
his sleigh for both Mr. Douglass and myself. We 
rode the distance together, and I was very much enter- 
tained by his conversation. I told him that, the day 
that Richmond fell into our hands, a friend of mine 
visited the attic of the State House, and happened to 
look through a pile of papers on the floor. He saw a 
large bundle marked " In re Frederick Douglass.'' 
They did not seem to be filed as State documents, but 
were with a lot of miscellaneous papers in the garret. 
He brought the bundle away with him, and upon ex- 
amining it found that it contained a copy of an indict- 
ment found in one of the counties of the Eastern Shore 
of Virginia, charging Mr. Douglass with inciting slaves 
to escape and to insurrection. In those days the pun- 
ishment for this offense was death. The papers 
showed that a man who had visited that section in a 
schooner to purchase wood for the New York market 
had distributed among the slaves some speeches made 
by Douglass and others, and it was determined to at- 



RECOLLECTIONS OF PUBLIC MEN 333 

tempt to bring Douglass to Virginia and place him on 
trial. The papers also showed the whole plan and ar- 
rangement, including the correspondence with the 
Attorney General of the United States and the Post- 
master General. It was arranged that an agent of the 
State of Virginia, with others in company, should go 
to a point in Michigan where, from the published 
announcements of his lecture engagements for the 
winter, it appeared that Douglass would be on a cer- 
tain date to lecture, and that he should be arrested 
there and then brought by the officers riding in the 
mail cars to Virginia. It appeared, further, that the 
entire plan of extradition had been arranged by the 
Attorney General of the United States with the Michi- 
gan authorities. Copies of telegrams in arbitrary 
cipher, which would mean certain understood informa- 
tion, were with the papers, as, for instance, a dispatch 
to a commission merchant in Richmond that " we are 
unable to purchase the wheat at the prices you named, 
if at all, in this section," meant that the plan had failed, 
and they could not get Mr. Douglass. Such a dispatch 
was received, and in the report made by the agents it 
appeared that Douglass canceled the engagement and 
did not come to the expected place. He had been taken 
with a somewhat protracted illness in Canada. I told 
Mr. Douglass all this, and told him the address of the 
officer who carried away those papers as a relic, and 
told him that no doubt he could get them if he would 
write to him, but Mr. Douglass simply said : 

" No, I don't want them. I have carefully elimi- 
nated from my memory every instance of that kind 
that I am aware of, and there were many, and I don't 
wish to become possessed of any new statements of 
that nature "; and he changed the subject at once. 



334 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

Mr. Douglass had a son who was a clerk in the 
Rochester post-office, and who was arrested by an In- 
spector, while I was Chief Post-Office Inspector, for 
robbing the mails. The newspapers had a great deal 
to say about the case because of the man's relationship 
to Mr, Douglass. It finally transpired that President 
Grant saw the dispatches in the paper, and wrote Mr. 
Douglass a letter with his own hand, saying that he 
had seen the report of his son's arrest, and that he 
greatly regretted it and hoped that he might be found 
innocent, and that, furthermore, he would leave the 
matter entirely in Mr. Douglass' hands to indicate to 
him any moment before or after trial that he wished 
his son pardoned, and that a pardon would be issued 
without any conditions whatever. Mr. Douglass car- 
ried this letter in his pocket, never told of it at the 
time, secured able counsel for his son, and sat through 
the trial, which resulted in his son's conviction. He 
acknowledged the letter to President Grant afterward, 
and said that his son protested his innocence, and many 
of his friends insisted that his arrest was due to racial 
prejudice, but that he had seen that he had a fair trial 
and that he had been justly convicted; that when his 
term of confinement was over he would do all in his 
power to help him to reform and become a useful citi- 
zen, but under the circumstances he did not think he 
ought to be pardoned at that time. 

This son was by Mr. Douglass' first wife and, unlike 
his father, was very dark. I think these two instances 
show Mr. Douglass' true nobility of character. 



CHAPTER IX 

COUNTRY LIFE IN WESTERN NEW YORK 

TT was well known that Mr. Lincoln was very fond 
-*- of J. K. Hackett, the famous comedian, and never 
missed an opportunity to see him play. Mr, Hackett 
came to Washington a number of times during the 
war, and I can see him now, as I saw him then, as Sir 
John Falstaff in the " Merry Wives of Windsor," with 
his short, fat form, encased in large top boots, leathern 
trousers and doublet, gauntlet gloves, and sword and 
belt with a large buckle, broad-brimmed slouch hat 
with ostrich feathers and the brim turned up in front 
showing a most remarkable countenance as made up, 
leering eyes, surmounted by shaggy white eyebrows, 
a week's growth of stubby white beard upon a back- 
ground of complexion almost deep crimson; his large 
pursing mouth, with rasping, crackling voice, boast- 
fully recounting his prowess and conquests in love and 
war. Every gesture and motion was' exactly correct 
for a very short fat body. It was conceded that this 
presentation of Falstaff was one of the notable pro- 
ductions of the stage. After Mr. Hackett's death I 
saw it stated that while he was studying the character 
of Falstaff he played an engagement at Buffalo, and 
there saw at the hotel a man named Rork, who was 
accepted by him at once as his ideal to study for the 
part. He became acquainted with Rork and spent 



336 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

much time in his company, going with him to his farm 
near Fredonia, New York, and always carefully study- 
ing his every motion, gesture, and walk. Rork was a 
noted horse-dealer who matched and trained the fine 
horses for which Northern Chautauqua was noted in 
those days, and fitted them for the markets of Buffalo 
and New York. While my people lived in Fredonia, I 
saw Rork many times, and when I read this reference 
to him in Hackett's biography, he was brought vividly 
to mind. Our home in Fredonia was but a short dis- 
tance from that of Judge Mullett, who had been for 
many years a Judge in Chautauqua County and was 
a noted jurist of the time. After leaving the bench. 
Judge Mullett practiced as counselor and referee at his 
office on the street near his fine residence in Fredonia. 
He was fond of children and encouraged me to visit 
him at his office. He had very many things that were 
interesting to me. His library was large and of mis- 
cellaneous character, as well as law books ; and he used 
to show me interesting volumes, including quite a num- 
ber of books and pamphlets that he had received from 
Lafayette, who, when passing through Fredonia on his 
trip to and from the West, was a guest of Judge Mul- 
lett. He was very enthusiastic in his description of 
Lafayette, and said that the time he stayed with him 
over the Sabbath was a constant feast of interesting 
information and reminiscences. Some of the books 
and pamphlets that Lafayette sent, which gave accounts 
of his travels and experiences in different parts of the 
world, and especially in this country during the Revo- 
lution and his visits afterward, were in French and 
some in English. I remember that Lafayette, in speak- 
ing of Fredonia, mentioned the fact that he arrived 
after dark, and that the village was illuminated, and 



COUNTRY LIFE IN NEW YORK 337 

a large nail factory was brightly lighted with natural 
gas, which came from a spring and which seemed to 
be an entire novelty to Lafayette. 

One day while I was at Judge Mullett's office, a man 
drove up and hitched his horse in front of the office 
and came in, coughing violently and seeming very 
feeble. After seating himself, he said: 

"Judge Mullett, I haven't got any money, but I 
have come to ask you to help me collect a debt. I 
chopped railroad wood last year for Mark Rork in 
Sheridan, and what I did came to $60, and he refuses 
to pay me a cent. He delivered the wood to the rail- 
road and got his money and is perfectly responsible, 
but he won't pay me a cent, and I am very poor." 

" Well," said the Judge, " you had a written con- 
tract with him, did n't you, that you signed? " 

" I did sign something, but I don't know what it 
was." 

" Did n't keep any copy? " 

" No; he said it was just to cover the amount of 
wood that I was to cut." 

" How much were you to cut? " 

" Two hundred cords." 

" You did n't cut it all?" 

" No, I could n't, Judge. I was taken sick with 
pneumonia, and I have been weak ever since and 
could n't do a bit of work. I would have cut it all if 
I had n't been taken sick." 

" Yes, I know," said the Judge, " I know that Mark 
Rork. He made you execute a contract that has put 
you in his power, and like as not, if he went to law, 
he could get a judgment against you for not fulfilling 
it. I know just as well now as I would after looking 
into it that he has got you down and you can't collect 



338 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

a cent of him. I am sorry, but I cannot do anything 
for you " ; and he went to the back door and called to 
his son James in the barn to bring- a bag of wheat and 
put it in the buggy in front of the office. The Judge 
had a fine tract of land in the outskirts of the village, 
and his son James conducted the farm operations. 

" Well," said the man, " I suppose I will have to 
give up on it then. I will just go across to the leather 
store and see if I can't get a little leather to tap my 
children's shoes with." 

" Got any money ? " 

" No, I have n't got any money, but I guess they will 
give me some scraps." 

" Here 's a dollar to get the leather with " ; and the 
man started across to the leather store. Just then 
Mark Rork drove up to the tavern on the opposite 
corner with a magnificent pair of horses, and getting 
out of his buggy tied them to a post. The Judge 
stepped to the open door of the office and called out, 
" Rork ! Rork ! Come over here quick ! " and Rork 
waddled across the street. 

"What is it, Judge?" 

The Judge put his hand on his shoulder and said : 

" Do you see that man going across to Green's leather 
store? " 

" Yes, I see him." 

" You owe that man $60, and he has come here and 
employed me to collect the money of you. You go 
after him quick and pay him every cent. H you don't, 
you will catch Hell ! " 

And Rork did what men had always done before 
the voice and commanding manner of Judge Mullett; 
he obeyed. We soon saw him with his fat leg up on 
the fence and his big wallet spread out on his knee 



COUNTRY LIFE IN NEW YORK 339 

paying the man the money. After a while the man 
came back with quite a large roll of leather and put it 
in his buggy and then came in again and said : 

" Judge, he has paid me every cent and you made 
him do it. How much do I owe you? " 
" You don't owe me anything." 
" You gave me a dollar to get leather with." 
" Well, that 's all right. You keep the dollar. You 
seem to have a big roll of leather? " 

" Oh, I bought more leather. I am something of a 
cobbler, and I have a kit of tools, and I guess I can do 
some work for neighbors and get in a little money." 
" Where do you live? Have you got a house? " 
" Yes ; I bought a small place when I came into this 
section last year, and I paid something on it and hoped 
to work and pay for it, but I was taken sick and I 
can't pay anything more on it. But the man is well 
off that I bought it of and he said, ' Never mind the 
interest and never mind the payments. You just live 
right along there ' ; that I had paid in enough so it 
could stand for quite a while. So I have arranged and 
made a deed to him, and my wife has got it to give to 
him whenever he wants it, so he won't have no costs 
of foreclosure." 

" You don't keep a horse? " 

" No ; I borrowed this horse of a neighbor to come 
down to see you, and I am mighty glad I did. I have 
got a cow and chickens and have managed to make a 
garden and raise a potato patch, and my neighbors 
came last winter when I was sick and had a big bee and 
got up a splendid lot of wood, all fixed for the stove; 
and they say they will come this winter again; and 
they came and cut my hay and put it in the bam, so 
there is plenty to winter the cow, and now with this 



340 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

money I can pay the taxes and get along first-rate this 
winter, if I hold out so long." 

" Well, you better go to the mill while you have got 
a buggy here and get the wheat ground and take it 
home, and when that gives out maybe I can spare 
another bag for you. You come to me, and if Rork 
tries to trouble you, and he would be just smart enough 
to try to do it some way, you let me know and I will 
take care of him." 

The Judge had the reputation of being harsh and 
overbearing, but his heart was easily reached. 

In those days they had an associate Judge elected by 
the people, who received a very small salary and at- 
tended the sessions of the Court, sitting with the pre- 
siding Judge. No lawyer having any practice would 
accept the position. They were called " Side Judges " 
and sometimes " Basswood Judges." It was the cus- 
tom of the Judge to deliver the opinion of the Court 
in all cases and then turn toward the Side Judge, who 
would gravely nod his approval. After Judge Mul- 
lett's death I heard several lawyers discussing him and 
their experiences with him. One of these lawyers re- 
ferred to the Side Judge, who had sat many years with 
Judge Mullett on the bench, and said he asked this 
Side Judge if he could recollect any cases where Judge 
Mullett consulted with him. After a moment he said : 

" I can recollect two instances. One was while we 
were sitting in very hot weather. Judge Mullett turned 
to me and said, * Judge, it is mighty hot and we have 
had a pretty long session already. Don't you think 
we had better adjourn court and go down to the lake 
and go in swimming?' and I agreed with him. The 
other instance was while sitting in a murder trial, which 
lasted far into the night, a very long session, Judge 



COUNTRY LIFE IN NEW YORK 341 

Mullett turned to me and said, ' This chair is getting 
mighty hard and I am getting sore. Don't you think 
it would be a good idea to have these two chairs cush- 
ioned?' and I concurred with him fully." 

The name of this Side Judge was Wilson, and his 
nickname over the whole county was " Puddin'-head 
Wilson." I understand that Mark Twain's folks came 
from near by. 

My mother had two brothers named David and 
George, David being the older. There were others and 
also half-brothers. David was well grown when my 
grandfather. Major Samuel Sinclair, settled in Chau- 
tauqua County where Sinclairville now stands, but 
George was born there, and died there in 1908 at the 
age of ninety-seven. David learned the trade of mill- 
wright, and built many of the grist-mills and sawmills 
of Chautauqua County. He was quite a remarkable 
man in many respects. He was a very powerful man 
physically and a very capable man as to designing and 
building mills, and possessed extraordinary judgment 
and ability as to matters generally. Samuel Sinclair, 
son of a half-brother, and publisher of the " New York 
Tribune," once told me that Uncle David was the 
wisest man he ever knew; that he had been to him 
with some very complicated questions, often as to mat- 
ters concerning which it would not be supposed he 
would have any knowledge, and Uncle David's decision 
and opinion were always sound. 

In those early days the young settlers indulged in 
various athletic sports and target-shooting. Wrestling 
by shoulder and elbow, as it was called, was seen on all 
occasions of public gatherings, and matches were made 
between local celebrities. One of my uncles told me 
that a man rode into the village of Sinclairville and 



342 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

found my grandfather at the hotel which he kept, and 
said to him that he was from the Hudson River ; that 
he was land-looking and going to visit some relatives 
who lived in the south part of Chautauqua County, but 
that he had heard all across the State of David Sin- 
clair, the wrestler, and as he himself claimed to be the 
champion of the Hudson River country, he had devi- 
ated from his road a little to come to Sinclairville and 
see if he could not wrestle Dave Sinclair. Grandfather 
said: 

" David is at the sawmill some distance away, but I 
have got a boy eighteen years old in the garden who 
will come out and try you one, and if you throw him 
he will go after David." 

There was a place covered with tan bark near the 
hotel to which the wrestlers resorted, and the boy, 
George, was called from the garden, and the villagers 
gathered around, and the stranger was thrown twice. 
It was said that George was almost equal to David in 
skill as a wrestler, and that David was never thrown. 

The two brothers purchased some soldier's land war- 
rants and went West to locate them, spending consid- 
erable time looking at the country. They were advised 
by someone to go to Arkansas and locate their war- 
rants on public lands there. Uncle George told me that 
they stayed at a tavern on a main highway where quite a 
number of others were staying and travelers stopped, 
and from there they went about to examine the country. 
There was a gambler at this tavern who tried to get 
them to play cards, and he did win considerable sums 
from other men. Uncle David had a great contempt 
for him, and did not hesitate to express it; said that 
he did not play cards and would not play anything for 
money, but that the man was a cheat. They supposed 



COUNTRY LIFE IN NEW YORK 343 

that this was repeated to the gambler, but there was 
another incident, also, which sufficed to promote a 
quarrel. While they were seated under the trees, just 
at evening, a pair of jaded horses with a covered emi- 
grant wagon stopped at the watering-trough below, 
between the house and the barn, and a woman, who 
was driving the horses, got off to uncheck them and 
water them at the trough. The gambler was coming 
from the stable to the house, and when he saw this 
comely young woman beside the horses, he went to her 
and made remarks which she resented, but not in very 
loud tones. She pushed him away, however, and tried 
to get to the horses, but he persistently attempted to 
kiss her. Uncle David stalked out to the side of the 
team, caught the gambler by the collar and gave 
him a throw. Then he asked her why she did not call 
for assistance. She said, speaking in a low tone : 

" My husband is lying very sick in the wagon. If 
he knew what was going on, he would make an effort 
to get up and use his gun. We moved to Illinois and 
all got the ague, and my husband is near dead. We are 
trying to get back where we started from, and it is only 
three miles from here where our folks live." 

Uncle David checked the horses, and she drove on. 
The gambler got up from the dusty road and said : 

" I will kill you for this." 

*' No, you won't kill anybody, unless you can shoot 
them in the back. You are a coward and a sneak. You 
would n't fight anybody." 

" I will show you whether I will or not. You are a 
big, powerful man, but pistols make us equal, and I 
have a pair of pistols, and I challenge you to meet me 
at twenty paces at six o'clock in the field back of the 
house to-morrow morning." 



344 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

" I will be there," said Uncle David, and he told 
George to get out their pistol. They had had a gun- 
smith at Sinclairville make a rifled pistol with rifle 
sights, and either of them could shoot it as accurately 
as a rifle. In the morning they got up very early. 
Uncle David took the pistol and loaded it and put some 
more ammunition in his pocket, and they went down 
in the garden before the time they were to meet the 
man, and Uncle David put up as a mark a piece of 
paper as large as a silver dollar on a tree and paced off 
twenty paces, fired at the mark, and it dropped, the 
bullet having hit the pit in the center. He put it up 
again and loaded the pistol again and shot with the 
same result. Then he loaded the pistol again and said, 
" I guess that will do, George," and went into the 
house and waited about, but when six o'clock came he 
did not see the gambler. He found the landlord and 
asked him if the man had been down. 

" Oh, yes, he came down at daylight and got me up 
and called me in the bar to get him some liquor. He 
drank a full tumbler of whiskey. Said he wanted to 
brace his nerves up. He did n't tell me what for. We 
heard some shooting out in the garden and went to the 
window and looked out, and he said you had just shot, 
and I saw you shoot again and drop the little mark 
at twenty paces and I said, * Well, that Yankee is a 
dead shot, sure.' He seemed considerably worried and 
excited, and called for his bill and paid me, and said 
he would n't wait for breakfast. In a few minutes 
I stood at the front door and saw him galloping down 
the road fast with his saddlebags on the saddle." 

At the time of the opening of the Erie Railroad and 
while father lived at Fredonia, Uncle David came 
driving a very fine mare that afterwards became fa- 



COUNTRY LIFE IN NEW YORK 345 

mous as a trotting mare at New York, and stayed over 
night. In the morning he took me with him down to 
the celebration at Dunkirk (three miles), where we 
saw President Fillmore and Daniel Webster and 
others. When he went to care for his mare in the 
morning, he found a leg somewhat swollen and said 
that she had put her foot through a hole in the bridge 
the evening before, and he guessed he would take her 
down to Colburn's mill and shower it. I was close at 
his heels always when he was at our house, and was 
with him then. So he placed me on the mare's back 
and led her down to Colburn's mill and went to the 
door of the mill and said to Colburn, who came out : 

" Colburn, I want to go to the flume and pull a pin 
out a little ways there and shower my mare's legs. 
I know just where to find it. I built this mill and I 
know all about it." 

'* Yes, I know you did, Sinclair, but there is a better 
place than that. I have put in a pipe and arrangements 
out there for the street sprinkler to get water. You 
can turn it on, and there is a hose there that goes into 
the barrel on the sprinkling wagon. You can use that 
and shower her legs and get it better than you can 
from the stream in the flume." 

Uncle David went out and showered the mare's leg, 
and while he was doing it the sprinkling wagon came 
up with a large, powerful man on the wagon. 

" You get away from there. You are wetting every- 
thing up. What are you there for, anyway ? You don't 
seem to know anything. What are you doing? " 

" Well," said Uncle David, " I am about through, 
but you don't want to talk to me that way." 

" I will do worse than that," said the man, swearing. 

" Keep cool," said Uncle David, " keep cool ! You 



346 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

won t hurt anybody. I will be through in just a mo- 
ment now." 

But the man jumped forward and struck him. In- 
stantly Uncle David threw his arms around him and 
squeezed him. Colburn came running from the mill. 
The man's face grew black, and he could hardly speak. 
Colburn said : 

" Sinclair, don't hurt the man." 

"No, I don't intend to hurt him; but he not only 
swore at me, but he struck me." 

" Well, you won't strike him? " 

" No, I don't dare strike anybody, ever." 

" I will beg, I will beg," gasped the man. 

" All right," said Uncle David, " try to treat stran- 
gers more politely " ; and Colburn said : 

" You are lucky to get off that way. He is the most 
powerful man I ever knew, and he might easily have 
crushed your ribs in." 

" Well, I suppose I did wrong anyway, and I apolo- 
gize. I am too quick-tempered." 

" All right," said Uncle David, " I have no ani- 
mosity," and went away with his horse. 

Uncle David was as tender as a child. It was said 
of him that he could catch any animal he chose. He 
could tame them and teach them anything he wished. 
Before he died I drove to Sinclairville once with my 
wife. We reached Uncle David's farm home just be- 
fore evening, and after he and his wife had welcomed 
us, I said: 

" I would like to look around your place with you, 
Uncle David. I would like to see the animals that you 
have about you." 

" All right, I always have something to show you 
when you come to see me." 



COUNTRY LIFE IN NEW YORK 347 

We first went to a yard where some fine Chester pigs 
were eating grass. He said : 

" They know it is n't feeding time, and they know 
that I don't want them. They would n't come if I 
called them to feed unless I had feed for them, but 
they will come for this quick enough." 

He stepped up to a post where hung a kind of ladle, 
which he took down and held in his hand. The mo- 
ment he did so all those pigs came running and stood 
on the inside of the low fence holding their backs up. 
It was a device that he had made to scratch their backs 
with, and they did not go away until he had scratched 
the back of each one with that sharp-edged scraper. 
Then he hung it up, and they went back in the yard. 
He went over by the barns where there was a covered 
barrel and took a stick and rapped on the barrel two 
or three times, and more than a hundred white hens 
and chickens came flying and hurrying. He said to 
a handsome dog at his heels, " Separate them, and I 
will feed the chickens first." The dog rushed among 
them and pushed them around with his nose until the 
chickens all took one side and the old fowls the other. 
There were two or three of the oldest chickens that 
seemed to puzzle the dog, and he looked back at Mr. 
Sinclair, who told him they were chickens. Then 
Uncle David took some corn from the barrel and fed 
the chickens, while the older ones stayed off by them- 
selv^es. Then he said to the dog, "That's enough; 
drive them away, and I will feed the older ones." So 
the dog rushed among the chickens, and they all flew 
away and the old ones came up to be fed. When we 
were called to supper, he said : 

" I guess I will get the cows up so they will be ready 
to be milked as soon as supper is through." 



348 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

" I will go back with you," said I, for I could not 
see any cows. 

" Oh, no," he said, " I don't go back. They are in 
the back end of the pasture all right, and without bars 
or gates, but they would n't think of coming in until 
I call them. If they did, the dog would drive them 
back. He knows when I want them." 

He stepped out and called, " Come up! Come up! 
Come up ! " in a very loud voice. In a little while I 
saw the head of the column of cows coming over a rise 
of ground, and then when they came to the bams 
(there were two different milking barns) they entered 
and took their places, but were not fastened. When 
supper was through, the men all went out to milk the 
cows, and I said : 

" The cows seem to take their places all right." 

" Oh, yes, they all know their places. I sold one of 
the best milkers because I could n't teach her to take 
her place." 

As fast as a cow was milked she would go out and 
start back up the lane towards the pasture. There was 
a small wooden trough behind one of the cows, and 
two white cats had been running back and forth on the 
backs of the cows. When this trough was reached, it 
was filled with milk and the cats had their supper. The 
milk was taken out and strained into the milkcans which 
stood on the wagon ready to go to the cheese factory, 
and Uncle David called, " Come out, Jimmie, we are all 
ready." I saw a horse harnessed standing in the stable. 
He backed out and came to the wagon and got between 
the shafts. After he was hitched and the man started 
off for the cheese factory, Uncle David laughed and said : 

" I won't have anything around that I can't teach 
to do something." 




Georsre Sinclair at the age of 87 



COUNTRY LIFE IN NEW YORK 349 

Uncle George was a noted shot with a rifle, and after 
the game got scarce in near-by Pennsylvania, he made 
yearly excursions to Michigan to shoot deer, until he 
was seventy-five years old. The last time I saw him 
he took from his wallet a handbill announcing a turkey 
shoot at Sinclairville two days before Thanksgiving 
Day, at which a man would put up a hundred turkeys, 
and to which he invited everyone from Chautauqua 
and adjacent counties. The shooting was to be at 
seventy rods, ten cents a shot. At the bottom of the 
bill was printed " George W. Sinclair, Esq., barred." 
Uncle George explained : 

" For a man in his seventies I take that as a com- 
pliment. The fact is, that the year before I went and 
shot a turkey, and the man said, ' That 's all you want, 
is n't it ? ' and I said, ' No ; I counted up this morning 
and there are thirteen widows in Sinclairville who have 
families and keep house, and I thought I would come 
and get thirteen turkeys for them. I hope they won't 
cost me more than $1.30.' I got the thirteen turkeys 
for $1.50, so this year, when they issued the notice, 
they barred me." 

During the time that I was in the Post-Oflice De- 
partment at Washington, and afterward, I lived at or 
near Randolph in Cattaraugus County, at first, for 
four y.ears, in the village, and then I built a house and 
other buildings on a tract of land about six miles out 
on a very high hill, over six hundred feet rise in a mile 
and a half, and we resided there until 1900, when we 
sold the place and moved to Ellicottville. We thought 
to call it " Mesa Farm," Mesa being an entirely appro- 
priate name for a plateau of land on a hill or moun- 
tain, but the people of the section called the place 
" Parker Hill," and that name went into general use 



350 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

and I presume will remain. We had a large tract of 
land, eight hundred and forty-three acres, and I had 
cleared before we moved upon the place, and soon 
afterward, enough to bring three hundred acres into 
cultivation and pasture. There were some attractive 
views, and the sunsets were superior to any I have ever 
seen elsewhere. The view extended twenty miles to 
Jamestown, Chautauqua Lake, and, with a powerful 
glass, to Lake Erie, and the sun, in setting, always 
dropped into Lake Erie finally. But almost every 
night, unless it was very stormy, we had the dark 
clouds gilded with the brightest gold on the lower side, 
and it was customary for our own people and all vis- 
itors to watch the sunsets. The land was productive, 
and we had very good stock, — cattle, sheep, and 
horses. We had no near neighbors, but after the first 
year or two we had a telephone line communicating 
with Randolph, and later a through East and West line 
was built by the New York and Pennsylvania Tele- 
phone Company across our place, and the wires were 
brought to the house, so that conversation could be 
had with all local points and even as far as New York 
and Boston. My wife was with me at times while 
away, but we maintained our home there, with the ex- 
ception of five winters when we moved the family to 
the village for the winter, for nineteen years. We 
always had fireworks the Fourth of July, and invited 
people in the immediate neighborhood to come up to 
see them. It finally grew to be a general place of 
resort on that day for many of the people for miles 
around, and my wife had sandwiches and coffee pre- 
pared for refreshments in the evening, on one occasion 
feeding one hundred and forty persons. We always 
had some friends invited to spend the day, and Judge 



COUNTRY LIFE IN NEW YORK 351 

Henderson, a Justice of the Supreme Court living in 
Randolph, and Dr. Saunders, an elderly physician, 
came every Fourth of July for many years. When I 
used to see them about a week or two beforehand, they 
would edge up, like bashful boys, and inquire whether 
" there was going to be any cherry pie up at the farm 
on the Fourth," and I would say, " Yes, I think there 
will be." Then there would be an embarrassing silence 
for a little, and then one of them would say, " Well, 
don't suppose you intend to invite anybody to come 
up," and I would say, " Why, people that belong there 
and come there every Fourth and are partial proprie- 
tors of the cherry pie and roast lamb and all, I 
should n't suppose they would need an invitation." 
" No, I guess they don't," they would say, and they 
always came and spent the day and night. We gen- 
erally had shooting at a mark and some sports of that 
sort and then a dinner, the material for which came 
from our farm. We would have spring lamb with 
green peas, young turkeys or ducks and a boiled ham, 
vegetables from the garden, including new potatoes, 
and cherry pie made from a variety of cherries that we 
thought were unsurpassed. 

One time when I walked through the forest looking 
after the timber, I suddenly came upon a figure which 
startled me. Before me, on a knoll, stood a woman 
with a long staff, which she grasped about the middle, 
a dress coming about to the ankle, barefooted, large 
frame and large face, coarse gray hair flitting over 
her shoulders, and, in every way, resembling the 
make-up of Charlotte Cushman in Meg Merrilies, as 
I once saw her in New York at the great Sanitary 
Commission benefit during the war. I stopped sud- 
denly, and the woman said, " You are Mr. Parker, I 



352 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

guess. I am Mrs. Brink and live over on the old 
Young's place, and am searching for my cows, who 
strayed off in the woods. I thought I heard a bell 
over this way." She and her husband had come to 
live on a little abandoned farm because they belonged 
to the mountains. They had originally lived in West 
Virginia in the mountains, and although they had tried 
to live on a farm on the fiats, not very far from us, 
they were not contented. They were of a class seen 
in the Appalachian Range in West Virginia, Virginia, 
and North Carolina, " Sang Hunters." The old man 
raised a little crop and had a team, and the wife raised 
some young cattle every year, and they gathered roots 
and herbs which they sent away to a patent medicine 
vender. This woman used to come to our place occa- 
sionally, and Mrs. Parker aided her in various ways. 
On one occasion Mrs. Parker asked her if she would n't 
come over and spend the Fourth of July and take din- 
ner, and told her that Mr. Brink could come in the 
evening to the fireworks and take her home. She said 
she " had n't anything fittin' to wear." My wife asked 
her if she could make a calico dress if she had the 
material, and she said she could. A nice calico dress 
with the trimming was sent over to her, and when the 
Fourth of July came she appeared with her hair well 
combed and a fairly well fitting calico dress, with the 
big label, six or eight inches square, which was pasted 
on the calico, appearing between her shoulders, 
" Amoskeag Mills." She sat at the table with our 
guests, and before the dinner was through was con- 
sidered able to take care of herself. My wife had her 
placed at her side, so that she could look after her a 
little, but she really did not need any assistance. Dr. 
Saunders, trying to be a little funny, said to her: 



COUNTRY LIFE IN NEW YORK 353 

" Mrs. Brink, are there many rattlesnakes over your 
way this season? " 

" Oh, no," she replied instantly. " There are no 
rattlesnakes on these hills now. They say there used 
to be, but they have all gone down on the flats. I heard 
that Mrs. Scudder, down near your house in the vil- 
lage, killed one in her pantry last week, and I heard of 
another one being killed over near Sample Hill. Oh, 
it must be azvfid dangerous to live down where you 
live ! I would n't think of living there ! " The Judge 
poked the Doctor, and the Doctor shut up. 

A lady in our family was well versed in poetry, and 
quite given, on suitable occasions, to reciting some- 
thing. At this dinner she repeated some stanzas from 
Milton's " Paradise Lost," and when she had finished 
Mrs. Brink said, " Are n't you mistaken about that ? I 
think you are." So, of course, we quickly said, " How 
is it, Mrs. Brink?" and she repeated enough to show 
that she could have repeated the volume from cover 
to cover. Then we drew around as well as we could, 
and found that Goldsmith's gems, Coleridge's " An- 
cient Mariner," John Bunyan's " Pilgrim's Progress " 
and all of Milton's poems were at her tongue's end. 
We quite enjoyed the old lady's presence. 

One feature of the Fourth of July occasion seemed 
to be that before the people left in the evening they 
would draw up in a crowd near the end of the porch, 
and one of the number would call out, " Three cheers 
for Mrs. Parker and Mr. Parker ! " The cheers were 
given with a will, and everybody recognized that the 
arrangement of names was perfectly appropriate. We 
had the Declaration of Independence read, and for 
music, a very fine singer, a Miss Dreager, from James- 
town, would sing the " Star-Spangled Banner " for 



354 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

us. In front of the house there was a flagpole with a 
large flag floating in the breeze. 

We had some pets that generally made a show on all 
occasions when we had visitors. A peacock (that is 
now stuffed and in our hall) always came out when- 
ever he thought there was anyone present to notice 
him, strutting about with his tail spread. Of course, 
I understand that Burroughs and Mr. Roosevelt say 
that birds and animals have some instinct but no intelli- 
gence, but many things led me to think that we saw 
many glimpses of intelligence on the part of both 
animals and birds. I had a little Chihuahua terrier, a 
beautiful little dog, weighing about four pounds, which 
was said to be from Mexico, and was exceedingly in- 
stinctive, as Mr. Burroughs would say. We thought 
intelligent. This little dog would watch the peacock, 
and whenever he got out in good sight, she would steal 
up and jump on his back. At first he used to try to 
throw her off. He would lower his tail and whirl 
around and try every way to get the little dog off his 
back, but she would grasp his feathers in her teeth and 
spread her legs out and hang on, and he was unable 
to dislodge her. Finally he accepted the situation, and 
would let her ride while he was spreading his tail for 
our guests. 

I used to sit in the sheep pasture where there was 
a fine view of forty miles of valleys and hills, and in- 
cidentally watch lambs at play. I suppose sheep are 
about the least intelligent of all animals, but they dis- 
played something more than instinct. I have seen a 
dozen lambs get around a stump that stood a couple 
of feet high and try, one after the other, to jump upon 
that stump. Finally one would succeed, and he would 
stay up there and appear to triumph over the rest for 



COUNTRY LIFE IN NEW YORK 355 

quite a long time. Then, when he jumped down, they 
would try again. It seemed to me as though that was 
a contest for superiority. 

The farmer used to take lambs who were disowned 
by their mothers, or in cases where the mothers had 
died, and try to start them by hand and sometimes 
raised them. One year there were a couple of black- 
faced fellows whose mother died the day they were 
born, and they were so lively that the farmer said to 
me, " I believe they will get along right well with 
these ewes," and I said, " Try it." The ewes were 
fed in the sheep sheds every night, and these little 
thieves would steal up behind ewes that had lambs 
and get what sustenance they wanted. Occasionally a 
ewe would look around to see whether it was her own 
lamb, and on discovering it was not, would butt the 
little fellow all over the stable. But they kept it up, 
and after they were in the pasture they would run 
around and get behind complacent ewes and get con- 
siderable nourishment before discovery, then they 
would take their punishment and keep right on, and 
they thrived and grew to be large sheep. 

I had a brood mare that I obtained at an insignifi- 
cant cost because she would not pull an empty buggy 
nor work for anybody, it was said, and I exchanged 
with a butcher something of little value for her. He 
said it was the first animal that he ever saw he could 
not work, and asked me if I did not want her for a 
brood mare. We looked her over, and she seemed to 
be very well bred and, in fact, had been brought from 
Kentucky by a lumberman, who rode her, but could 
never drive her, and as she was not wanted for saddle 
purposes she went the rounds of the jockeys and horse- 
traders. I had her turned out and she raised five fine 



3s6 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

colts. Once, when I was at home, I inquired if she had 
foaled, and the farmer said : 

" We are keeping watch for her and we have not 
seen her this morning." 

" I will go over to the pasture," said I, " and see if 
I can find her." 

" Don't you go anywhere near her," warned the 
farmer, " especially if she has a colt. If you get within 
three rods of her, she will run for you and give you 
both feet "; but I went along with my cane and went 
through the large pasture until I found her in the 
corner where about an acre of underbrush had been 
allowed to grow up because of the presence of numbers 
of large, flat sandstones. In the midst of these bushes 
I found the mare with a colt lying on his back, caught 
between a couple of big rocks, but still alive. The 
mare whinnied when she saw me, and I hurried in and 
lifted the little fellow to his feet, and he followed the 
mother out into the open all right and was able to run, 
and she acted very grateful instead of -giving me both 
feet. I think this displayed some intelligence when she 
whinnied to call me. Her colts were always docile, 
and all became well-broken, good horses. 

I had fourteen polled-angus cows, black heavy cows, 
without horns. One time I took some gentlemen out 
into the pasture to see them. The cows were all lying 
down and, of course, we did not submit them to any 
very cruel punishment, but we tried the flat hand and 
a stick and twisted their ears and called to them and 
kicked them with the side of our shoes, but without 
avail. We could not make one of them get up. They 
remained there, chewing their cuds. We all sat down 
on their backs and thought perhaps we could start 
them that way, but we had to wait until they came in 
to be milked. 



COUNTRY LIFE IN NEW YORK 357 

Almost every domestic animal has some ways that 
are interesting; and also fowls, turkeys, ducks, and 
even birds of the air. There were song sparrows that 
would perch on the tallest limbs of a row of trees in 
front of the house whenever our porch had anyone sit- 
ting upon it, and sing by the hour, and if you came in 
and looked out the window you could see that they flew 
away. Certainly they came there for our entertainment. 

One time when I arrived home, the Scotch farmer, 
who was always a pessimist, met me at the station and 
said: 

" Well, you 'd better go out of sheep." 

" What 's the matter, Peter? " 

" Two sheep bit last night. There will be no end 
of it. That 's the way it always goes in Scotland." 

" Well," I said, " I am glad you spoke of it in 
time. I will go in the drugstore here and get some 
strychnine." 

So we put some strychnine on the carcass of one of 
those sheep and buried the other one and shut up the 
balance of the sheep that night, and the next morning 
there was a fine shepherd dog lying dead. This dog 
belonged to a drover and farmer who kept sheep twelve 
miles away, and he had left his owner's herd and passed 
through other flocks on the way and come twelve miles 
to kill our sheep. 

The year after we sold the place, the herds of sheep 
in the neighborhood were devastated and many killed 
by dogs. Finally they killed several of the sheep on 
the old farm. I had a magazine shotgun that was still 
there, and the new owner was quite a good shot. He 
stayed up at night on the road through the forest, 
where he felt sure the dogs would pass and where he 
had found tracks; and before morning, in the moon- 



358 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

light, five dogs came trotting along. He used the 
magazine gun with such effect that he got three of 
them, and it was found that those dogs all lived at 
points several miles distant from each other. Some 
wily fellow had told the others, and convinced them 
that it was a good thing to band together and go and 
kill sheep, and they had committed all the depreda- 
tions, none nearer than ten miles to their homes, and 
every morning they were back at their own sheepfolds 
quiet and innocent. It seems to me there was some 
intelligence shown in the generalship or organization 
of those rascals. 

We had colts growing up all the time, and they 
were named by the children, names that were generally 
retained. One of the colts, being part Percheron, 
grew to be a mammoth big fellow. A farmer's little 
girl named him " Jim Blaine." I asked her why, and 
she said, " Father says Jim Blaine is the biggest thing 
in the bunch." This colt would open all the doors 
and gates and go where he pleased, until we had to 
fasten them with some device that he could not manage. 
One of the barn doors had a slide with a pin coming 
out through an aperture to move it by, and Jim Blaine 
would take the pin in his teeth and push the bolt back 
and bite the pin and pull the door open and go in and 
wander about the barns and find the grain. He would 
open any of the gates that came from the pasture and 
let the other colts out. The man on the place hesitated 
about breaking him, he was so big and powerful, so he 
had not been harnessed at four years of age. One 
day, when at home, I observed that while the farmer 
was plowing up and down the field, going parallel to 
the pasture fence, Jim Blaine walked down and back 
the other side of the fence abreast of the plow team, 
and as he kept this up, I said to the fanner: 



COUNTRY LIFE IN NEW YORK 359 

" Jim Blaine wants to be put in harness. Why don't 
you put him in and break him? He is for sale and 
would sell better if broken." 

" Well, I suppose we will have to, but I don't hanker 
after that job." 

" Let 's harness him in at noontime," I said. " He 
wants to plow." 

The farmer remonstrated, but after dinner Jim 
Blaine was caught and brought to the barnyard and 
harnessed beside Old Maje without the slightest ob- 
jection, and they were driven out and hitched to the 
plow, a second man going along to drive and help, if 
needed, but Jim Blaine kept his eye on the older horse 
and plowed as though it had been his life occupation. 
That was all there was to breaking that colt, who at 
that time was seventeen hands high and weighed over 
fifteen hundred pounds. I disposed of him to the 
Home for the Friendless, of which Judge Henderson 
was the patron in the village, and Jim used to do the 
farm work and also haul supplies back and forth be- 
tween their farm and the buildings of the Home. I 
have seen him at this task, hitched to a wagonful of 
boxes and barrels of vegetables, with as many small 
boys as could get on the wagon and as many more as 
could get on the back of the horse between his tail and 
his ears, looking like clothes-pins on a line. I asked 
the farmer for the Home how the colt behaved, and 
he said, " Well, we try to interest the boys in farm 
work, teaching them what we can, and Jim Blaine is 
assistant teacher." 

Memories of development of my farm pass quickly 
through my mind; the improvements made and work 
done for two or three years before we moved upon the 
place, and the employment of a Scotch farmer and his 



36o A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

family, — a true Scotchman, a pessimist as to every- 
thing that was to happen, but a faithful, industrious, 
and wonderfully strong man. He had been chief 
plowman on an Earl's estate in Scotland, and his wife 
was head dairy maid. He was installed in a log house 
standing on the edge of the woods, and I set to work to 
get a pair of horses for him. Good horses were scarce 
and very high-priced. After making quite extensive 
inquiries I despaired of getting just what I would like, 
and bought a fine, big, chestnut young fellow who had 
a bad reputation. A horse-trader whom I knew had 
him, and I said : 

" Now, don't keep anything back. You want to sell 
that fellow, and I want about his style of a horse if 
he will suit me. Just tell me all about him honestly." 

" All right. I will. Up to six months ago he was 
considered all right in every respect. Then a confiding 
owner got out of his buggy, opened his gate, and told 
the colt to go through. Then he tried to stop him 
while he shut the gate, but the colt kept on, and then 
the old man hollered and ran and scared him, and the 
colt ran away and smashed the buggy up and then ran 
away the next time he was hitched up, and everybody 
was frightened, and he has been traded around two or 
three times and I got him. He is working here beside 
another horse and is true as steel and perfectly sound, 
and I have had no trouble with him, but I will sell him 
very cheap." After he named a price I said : 

"If you will haul a load of lumber up to the farm 
to-morrow morning, I will drive up behind you, and 
when you get up to the fami I will pay you for hauling 
up the load of lumber or I will pay you for the horse." 

He did that, and I saw him pull up the long hill and 
at the top told him that I would buy the horse. He 



COUNTRY LIFE IN NEW YORK 361 

lived to a very old age, and under our treatment was 
faithful and never gave any trouble whatever. 

Then I hunted for a mate, but the best that I could 
find was a fine young mare owned by a drayman in the 
village, who had bought her at a very high price and 
had then left her standing with his wagon before she 
was fully used to the town, and she had run away, 
smashing things. When he caught her, he proceeded 
to whip her with a powerful whip, put a very cruel 
bit in her mouth, and proposed to hold her back with 
the bit and force her ahead with the big black snake- 
whip. The result was, a balky horse. She had refused 
to pull the empty wagon from his barn. He was a 
high-tempered man and beat her unmercifully, built 
a fire under her and tried such devices, but she simply 
stood and cringed as the blows fell upon her. I asked 
him what he wanted for her. He named a very low 
price, less than half what he had paid for her, and I 
told him if he would have his boy take her up to the 
farm I would take her. I instructed the boy, who rode 
her up to the farm, to deliver her to the Scotchman, but 
not to tell him anything at all about her, and say that 
I would be up in the morning. As I drove over the 
top of the hill to the farm the next morning, I saw a 
cluster of men ahead moving an old log fence away 
from the side of the road. The Road Commissioner 
was there at work. The Scotchman saw me come up 
over the hill, and he ran excitedly down the road to 
meet me, gesticulating and shouting at the top of his 
voice, " That mare you sent up ain't worth a shilling ! 
Send her away at once. She won't pull a pound." I 
drove up to where the horses were, and found he had 
harnessed her in beside Major and hitched them to a 
small log, and she had refused to pull, but she stood, 



362 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

as balky horses do, with her head over the other horse's 
neck. I asked if they had beaten her. He said, " No, 
I have n't struck her, but I was just going to get a club 
and knock her down as you came." I asked the Road 
Commissioner to hitch his team on and haul the logs 
out, and we would let our team stand awhile, and after 
they had stood for fully half an hour I took up the 
reins and spoke to the horses. Major started of¥, and 
the mare flinched and then plunged and jumped a few 
times and looked around to see where the man was that 
had the whip. She could not see any such man or feel 
a whip, so she started along by jerks and jumps, and 
we hauled a little log away and then came around, 
hitched on to a bigger one, and so kept at work. She 
hauled logs all right all day, and before night was pull- 
ing well with heavy loads. I told the Scotchman that 
I would come up the next morning and we would start 
to plow. 

" Not with me, you won't. I will not plow with such 
a team as that. That mare won't work." 

" I thought," said I, having in mind the medals for 
prize plowing that he had showed me, " that you were 
a plowman." 

" So I am, the prize winner, but I have to have a 
decent team to plow. I will not stop here if you expect 
me to work with such a team as that." 

" They are handsome horses." 

" Handsome enough. Handsome is as handsome 
does. That mare ain't worth a shilling." 

" Did you ever have any such horses develop on the 
Scotch farm? " 

" Oh, yes, sometimes the horsemen would have 
trouble with the colts and they would be balky." 

" What would you do with them? " 



COUNTRY LIFE IN NEW YORK 363 

" Swap them off to the gypsies." 

" What did the gypsies do with them? " 

" Oh, they hitched them to their big vans." 

" Drove right away, did they ? " 

" Yes, they can drive anything. They have an Evil 
eye." 

" Well," I said, " Peter, I will come up in the morn- 
ing and we will see how they go. I guess they will go 
all right. Everybody in the village knows that I bought 
that balky mare, and when I go down to-morrow night 
they will probably say to me, ' What have you done 
with that good-for-nothing mare? ' I will say, ' She is 
plowing good. I have got a man on that farm that 
can work anything; and she is plowing good.' That 's 
what I will tell them to-morrow night." 

" I don't beHeve it. I am not — " 

" Oh, yes, you are. I will come up in the morning 
and we will put them in." 

So in the morning I said, " I will drive while you 
hold the plow and strike the first furrow." 

" There will be no furrow around this field." 

" We will start up and see." 

The mare jumped a few times, and nobody whipped 
her or yelled at her, and she w^ent on and we plowed 
around a couple of times. Then I said, " Peter, tie the 
reins over your shoulders and go on." That mare 
worked for fourteen years without ever, at any time, 
giving the least bit of trouble. 

The land had stumps over it. The mowing was by 
hand in some fields for a number of years. The sight 
of the stalwart mowers swinging the scythes, cutting 
the tall clover and timothy, across a field was very 
inspiriting. There was badinage about cutting each 
other out of a swath. Then the end of the field was 



364 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

reached, the whetstones were produced, and all went 
to sharpening the scythes and joking each other. Jim 
Vail, a well-to-do Irishman from the village, who ap- 
plied every year early for a job, and who was one of 
the best mowers, would say to Peter, " Don't you lead 
off next time with those long arms of yours. You are 
killing us. We can't keep up " ; and Peter would say, 
" I have a scythe six inches longer than any other one 
and can cut that much wider swath, and if you fellows 
can't keep up with me you don't deserve to be called 
mowers." Then they joked each other about being 
old and stiff. The fact was they were the best mowers 
one can imagine. A smooth board was nailed against 
a beam in the barn and a record kept each year, some- 
thing like this : 

" Commenced haying June 26th. 
Mowers : Swaney, Ellis, Bishop, Vail and O'Day." 

Then each day's entry would show a tally of the loads 
hauled into the barn. Then the entry would come, 
" Finished haying," with date and the loads counted 
up and totaled, the highest for any year being one 
hundred and forty loads. 

And then there came stump machines drawing all 
the stumps, big and little. Pine stumps, although the 
bark was gone and they were somewhat shrunken, 
more than five feet in diameter, and with roots reach- 
ing out in every direction, making a circle of twelve 
or fifteen feet, were all lifted out of the ground by the 
powerful machine. The largest and soundest stumps 
were hauled to the edge of the field and set up very 
carefully to make a straight fence, roots at the bottom 
and sides being cut so that each stump would sit close 



COUNTRY LIFE IN NEW YORK 365 

against the next one. Such a fence would last indefi- 
nitely, and I think it handsome. Blackberries and 
raspberries would grow along the fence, and climbing 
roses, woodbine, clematis, and wild honeysuckles cov- 
ered many of the stumps. Wild flowers abounded at 
the place, and the trailing arbutus, lilies, fleur-de-lis, 
orchids of various kinds, jack-in-the-pulpits, lady's 
slippers, and in May pink azaleas without limit grew in 
places in the forest. We used to have them brought 
to the house and massed in the open fireplaces. I re- 
member finding the sidewalk in front of a florist's es- 
tablishment on Broadway, New York, packed with 
people once because the large windows were full of 
pink azaleas. I asked the proprietor where he got 
them, and he said they came from the mountains in 
Sullivan County, that they were a great rarity in New 
York, and that he brought them in in carloads and 
they were used to decorate the houses of the rich. We 
poorer people could have had a pile as big as a house 
every year if we had wished it. 

When the stumps were out, the fields were smoothed 
and old-fashioned haying became obsolete. Then it 
was a pleasant sight to see the tall timothy grass mowed 
by a modern machine, George Barber, the farmer for 
the last nine years, sitting behind a handsome pair of 
young grays weighing eleven hundred pounds apiece, 
a little over sixteen hands high, carrying themselves 
well, the " Deering " mower cutting a swath six feet 
wide in the field directly opposite the house, going 
click, click, and the handsome team walking rapidly. 
" Four hours and ten minutes mowing that field of a 
little over six acres. These are the fastest w^alkers I 
ever drew a ribbon over," Barber would exclaim as he 
finished. It is an excusable pride one feels at seeing 



366 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

horses raised on one's own place develop without fault 
or blemish, to be pronounced a perfect team. 

Then there came the thrashing of grain, " The East- 
man Boys " came up that hill annually for twelve or 
fifteen years, with their big separator, the engine and 
boiler and a water-tank wagon. After we had helped 
them up the hill, the separator would be set up on the 
big barn floor, connected by a long belt to the engine 
out in front of the barn with the water-tank alongside. 
The hands obtained in the neighborhood would each 
be given his particular place, — some to throw the 
bundles of grain down to the table at the side of the 
feeder, some there to cut the binder and pass the bundles 
of oats to Eastman, who would feed them into the ma- 
chine. Meanwhile the straw would be coming out the 
carrier at the other end to be mowed away by the men 
stationed there, the grain would be pouring out at the 
side of the separator into bags that were hung upon 
racks, the dial would be recording each bag as it was 
taken away from the machine, the men would be carry- 
ing the bags of grain to the granaries and emptying 
them in the bins, and all would be going on merrily 
until the feeder wanted a few minutes' rest and a 
chance to apply the oil-can to parts of friction, so he 
would signal his brother at the engine, and the machine 
would stop. The tin pail of fresh water would be 
handed to the men, and all would drink heartily. The 
feeder would be asked, " How is it runnin' ? " " Heavy 
oats." A neighbor would put his hand in a bag and 
grasp what he could and hold them up and pour them 
back and say, " Those oats will go forty pounds to the 
bushel," and Eastman, who had fed the bundles, would 
say, " I am betting they will go heavier than that. I 
can tell pretty close when I feed the bundles of oats 



COUNTRY LIFE IN NEW YORK 367 

into the old machine." " Well," would say another 
neighbor, " I am betting they don't go any forty 
pounds. My oats did n't go twenty-five and they looked 
pretty good." Eastman would say, " I will bet a quar- 
ter and we will weigh some at noontime." " I will 
take you," would say the neighbor. So at noontime a 
half-bushel measure would be brought, filled with oats, 
a straight edge used to " strike " them, that is, to even 
them off with the top of the measure. A pair of scales 
would be brought from the house, the measure set on 
and weighed, then emptied and the measure weighed. 
" Twenty-one pounds and a quarter to the half 
bushel ! " Eastman would say. " I knew they was 
over forty pounds." The neighbor would say, " Here 's 
your quarter," and Eastman would reply, " Well, never 
mind, we will treat with that when we meet at the 
Fair." 

One time I arrived to find the oats all thrashed and 
the machine set up in the barnyard to thrash barley 
that was stored in the sheep-pen, and as I came up the 
machine was stopped, and I said : 

" Well, Eastman, how is the grain going? " 
" Well, this barley is going good and heavy, all 
right, but I hate barley. I would give up the business 
if there was very much barley raised in this section. 
I can't keep the beards from getting under my shirt 
and going down my back, and they keep a-working 
until they get to my heels, and then you will find a red 
streak that gets real sore, and I get them in my mouth 
too. You can't get a piece of barley beard out of your 
mouth ; it will go down — work its way. I don't know 
what they grow on the grain for. They tell me that 
there was only three acres of this grain, but from 
those bags setting out there with barley in 'em, I don't 



368 A CHAUTAUQUA BOY 

believe they ever grew on any three acres, and we are 
not through yet." 

When the barley was all out and the machine stopped 
and sweepings gathered up and put into the machine 
and all finally run through, the men gathered around 
and counted the bags, and there were ninety bags full. 
They were generally called two-bushel bags, but they 
will hold, when full, nearly two bushels and a quarter 
of grain. 

" Well," Eastman said, " I have been thrashing a 
good many years, and you can't make me believe that 
those ninety bags of barley, more than one hundred 
and eighty bushels probably, by weight more than 
two hundred bushels, ever grew on any three acres." 

" Well, there is time before dinner, let 's go and 
measure the ground." 

" Well, I am bettin' a quarter it is more than three 
acres," 

" I am taking you," said Barber, " and I will make 
it a dollar." 

" No ; quarter 's 'nuff, but I will bet a quarter with 
anybody else too." 

" All right," said neighbor Blood. " I seen that bar- 
ley, and I never saw such fine-looking barley on the 
ground. I will go you a quarter. Where 's the rod 
pole?" 

They all went out and measured the ground and fig- 
ured it on pieces of paper, and those farmers can be 
trusted to figure the size of a piece of land. All agreed 
that it was nearly a tenth of an acre less than three 
acres. 

" Well," said Eastman, " we are going to drive 
through town, and I 'm going to stop and put that in 
the newspaper and vouch for it myself and folks will 



COUNTRY LIFE IN NEW YORK 369 

believe me. This is the thirty-third stand we have 
made this season, and we hain't thrashed any such 
grain or yield of grain anywhere else, and it is so every 
year." 

So the village newspaper contained the announce- 
ment, on the authority of Thrasher Eastman, that more 
than one hundred and eighty bushels of good barley 
were grown on less than three acres of ground at our 
farm, and I think for over a year friends in the far 
West and elsewhere kept sending me clippings from 
their newspapers copying that item with my name, as 
the greatest yield they had ever known. 

The forest is all cut off and the timber has gone the 
way of all other American forests, slaughtered by the 
sawmill. The Independence Day celebrations are of 
the past. The Judge and the Doctor have long since 
gone from this world, but I am told that the eleven 
hundred fruit trees I left growing on the old place are 
bearing great quantities of fine fruit, and that the sun- 
sets are as beautiful as ever. 



INDEX 



Abington, Virginia, 131, 132. 

Accotink, Virginia, 2^. 

Acquia Creek, Virginia, 23, 24, 

38, 40, 41, 42. 

Adams, Charles of Boston, 253, 

254- 
Adams Express, 26. 
Adams, General Charles, 253, 

254. 25s, 256, 257, 258, 259, 

260, 261, 263. 
African Church, Richmond, 122, 

189, I go. 
Akins Wharf, Virginia, 55. 
Akron, Ohio, 316. 
Alabama, State of, 116, 190, 191. 
Alabama, The, 173. 
Albany Penitentiary, 164, 167, 

168, 172, 173. 
Albemarle, The, 65, 70, y^, 78, 

79, 80, 81, 82, 86. 
Albuquerque, New Mexico, 255. 
Alexandria, Louisiana, 197, 198, 

199- 
Alexandria, Virginia, 22, 23, S7> 

39, 176. 

Alger, Secretary of War, 307. 

Allan, Mrs. " Scotch," 186. 

Allegany County, New York, 
208, 331. 

Allen, Colonel Augustus R, 
327. 

Allen, Mrs. A. F., 327. 

Allen, of Virginia, 182. 

American Bell Telephone Com- 
pany, 274, 277, 278. 

American Express Company, 
273- 



American House, Richmond, 19. 

American Surety Company, 283, 
^ 285. 

" Amoskeag Mills," 352. 

" Ancient Mariner," 353. 

Andersonville Prison, 28. 

Annapolis, Maryland, 66, 68, 69, 
85. 

Antietam, Battle of, 23. 

Apache Indians, 87, 262. 

Appalachian Range, 352. 

Appomattox River, Virginia, 
51, 95- 

Arizona, State of, 87, 178. 

Arkansas, State of, 342. 

Arlington Hotel, Washington, 
310. 

Armies Operating Against Rich- 
mond, 38, 88, 97, 113, 160. 

Armistead, General L. A., 86. 

Armstrong, Special Agent, 268, 
269. 

Army of the James, 51, 52. 

Army of the Potomac, 12, 17, 
23, 30, 36, 44. 73, 77, 86, 87, 
94, 113, 205, 259, 267, 268. 

Army Regulations, 10, 24. 

Arthur, President C. A., 278, 
294, 297, 298, 299, 300, 312, 

313. 314- 
Ashland, Virginia, 184. 
Ashville, New York, i. 
Astor House, New York, 104. 
Atlantic Fleet, 155, 156. 
Atlantic Mutual Insurance 

Company, 243, 244, 246. 
Austrian Minister, The, 150. 
Aylett of Virginia, 182. 



372 



INDEX 



B 

Ballard Hotel, Richmond, 184. 
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, 

34- 
Baltimore and Ohio Station, 

Washington, 26. 
Baltimore, Maryland, 8, 25, 32, 

34, 35, 91, 140, 142, 173. 174- 
Bancroft Hall, Annapolis, 85. 
Bangs, Superintendent Railway 

Mail Servi;e, 269, 270, 271, 

272, 273. 
Bank of Montreal, 244, 245. 
Barber, George, 365, 368. 
Barksdale, of Virginia, 182. 
Barnum, P. T., 114. 
" Basswood Judges," 340. 
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 198. 
Battery, The, New York City, 

17- 
Bayard, Senator, of Delaware, 

241, 242. 
Beach, J. N., 164, 165, 166, 167, 

173. 174- 
Beauregard, General P. G. T., 

Beckwith, W. M., 43, 44, m, 
112, 113, 116, 117, 118. 

Belle Plain, Virginia, 40. 

Bell, Professor Alexander 
Graham, 274. 

Bell Telephone Company of 
Buffalo, 304. 

Bemus Point, New York, i. 

Benedict, Mr., 330. 

Bennett, Mr., of Philadelphia, 

115- 
Berlin, Germany, 251, 252. 
Bermuda Hundred, Virginia, 

51. 52. 
Binghamton, New York, 321. 
Birney, General D. B., 306. 
Bishop, Charles, 14. 



Bishop, Jack, 364. 

Black, Governor of New York, 

304. 
Blaine, James G., 313, 314, 31S. 

316, 317, 320, 321. 
Blair, Postmaster General M., 

54- 
Blake, Commodore, 69. 
Blood, of Parker Hill, 368. 
Blount, Mr., of Georgia, 231, 

234, 235. 
Boggs, Captain, 69, ']'j, 78. 
Boiling, Colonel Robert, 158. 
Bonash, of Richmond, 164, 167. 
Bond, Honorable H. L., 173, 

174. 175- 
Booth, J. W., 107. 
" Boots and Saddles," 108. 
Boston, Massachusetts, 70, 121, 

219, 224, 253, 277, 350. 
Botts, Honorable John Minor, 

154- 
Boutwell, Secretary of the 

Treasury, 161, 164. 
Bowers, Adjutant-General T. 

S., 27, 37, 38, 48, 55, 100, 

loi, 102. 
Boyden, Martin, 2. 
Bradford, Pennsylvania, 247, 

248, 249. 
Branch, Thomas R., I57- 
Brandy Station, Virginia, y]y 

92. 
Bremen, Germany, 251. 
Brink, Mrs., of Parker Hill, 

352, 353- 
Bristol, Tennessee, 290. 
Bristow, Secretary of the 

Treasury, 195. 
British Postal Service, 276. 
Broad Street, Richmond, 164, 

165. 
Broadway, New York, 5, 19, 

78. 365. 



INDEX 



373 



Brockenborough, Judge, 155. 
Brooklyn Navy Yard, "]"], 78. 
Brooklyn, New York, 50, 224. 
Broome County, New York, 

321. 
Brown, Captain J. M., 2. 
Brown, General, of Indiana, 

239- 

Brown, John, 183. 

" Brown," of the Treasury De- 
partment, 145, 146, 147, 148, 

149- 

Browning, Colonel, 289. 

Brownlow, Parson, 289. 

Bryan, William Jennings, 212. 

Buchanan, President James, 306. 

Buffalo Bill, 258. 

Buffalo, New York, 68, 207, 
300, 302, 303, 304, 321, 335, 336. 

Buffalo Street Railroad Sys- 
tem, 308. 

Buford, General John, 106. 

" Bull Ring," 96. 

Bull Run, First Battle of, 91. 

Bull Run, Second Battle of, 22. 

Bullus, Lieutenant, 52, 53. 

Bunyan, John, the Poet, 353. 

Burke, of Richmond, 164. 

Burnside, General A. E., 23. 

Burr, Aaron, 185. 

Burroughs, the Naturalist, 354. 

Burton, General, 120. 

Butler, General Benjamin F., 
51. 52, 53. 218. 



Cabell, Dr., of Richmond, 123, 
Cadwalader, General, 175, 176. 
Caldwell, Steven, 21. 
California Militia, 210. 
California, State of, 22, 30, 199, 
200, 202, 206, 309. 



Callahan's, Virginia, 183. 
Camp, Colonel, 133. 
Campbell, Judge J. A., 48. 
Camp Seward, Washington, 7. 
Canada, Dominion of, 190, 244, 

276, zzz. 

Cannon, Speaker, 22,2, 235. 
Capitol at Washington, 298, 

321. 
Carme, 284. 
Carolinas, Military Department 

of, 307. 
Carrollton, New York, 248, 249. 
Carter, Colonel, 161. 
Carter, Judge, 177, 178. 
Carter, Wyoming, 177. 
Casey, James, 151, 195, 196, 

199. 
Cassadaga, New York, 2. 
Cassel, Colonel, 52. 
Castle, Mount, of Richmond, 

164, 166. 
Cattaraugus County, New York, 

207, 331, 349- 
Cavis, John M., 203. 
Census of 1870, 157, 158, 159. 
Centennial Celebration, 209. 
Center Grand Division, Army 

of the Potomac, 17, 2^, 24, 30. 
Central Pacific Railroad, 205, 

243- 

Century Magazine, 46. 

Chancellorsville, Battle of, 4, 
30, 31. 

Chandler, Mr., of Virginia, 122. 

Chandler, Zach, 225, 226, 227, 
228, 229, 239. 

Chantilly, Battle of, 22. 

Chapauqua, New York, 326. 

Charleston, South Carolina, "j^t- 

Charlotte County, Virginia, 
188. 

Charlotte Court House, Vir- 
ginia, 187. 



374 



INDEX 



Charlottesville, Virginia, 208. 
Chase, Chief Justice Salmon 

P., 152, 153, 154, 155- 
Chattanooga, Tennessee, 196. 
Chautauqua Assembly, 292. 
Chautauqua County, New York, 

42, 54, 207, 208, 292, 2>27, 331. 

ZZ(i, 341- 342, 349- 
Chautauqua Lake, New York, 

350. 
Cheeseman's Creek, Virginia, 13. 
Chesapeake Pay, 85. 
Chicago, Illinois, 65, 226, 227, 

228, 244, 245, 246, 268, 277, 

317- 
Chihuahua, Mexico, 354. 
Chimborazo Hill, Richmond, 

102. 
Chipeta, 260, 261, 263, 264, 265. 
Christianson, Judge, 208. 
Church Hill, Richmond, 55, 58. 
Cilley, Colonel Joseph, i. 
Cincinnati, Ohio, 173, 281. 
City Hall Square, New York, 5. 
City Point, Virginia, 27, 43, 48, 

51. ^Z, 54, 55, 56, 94, 96, 97. 

100, loi, 119, 160. 
Civil Service Reform, 270, 273, 

277- 
Civil Service Reform Commis- 
sion, 307. 
Clarke, Colonel, 34. 
Clarke, S. B., 218. 
Clarkson, Colonel, 130. 
Cleveland, Mrs., ^'^■7, 328. 
Cleveland, President Grover, 

27Z, 301, 302, 303, 304. 
Cline, Captain, 259, 265, 266, 

267, 268. 
Cline, Mrs., 265, 268. 
Clinton, Governor of New 

York, 321. 
Clymer, New York, 327. 
Cockburn, Lord, 282. 



Cockpit Point, Virginia, 8. 
Coey, General, 209. 
" Coffee Coolers," 39. 
Colburn, of Fredonia, 345, 346. 
Colburn's Mill, Fredonia, 345. 
Cold Harbor, Battlefield of, 

no, 115. 
Cole, Senator, of California, 

309. 
Coleridge, the Poet, 353. 
Collins, James, 309, 310, 311, 

312. 
" Colonel Carter," 160. 
Colorado, State of, 100, 253, 

254, 258, 260, 262, 263. 
Columbia River, 206. 
Columbia, South Carolina, 174. 
Commodore, Aaron, 153, 154, 

155- 
Comstock, Colonel, iii. 
Congress, 27, 70, 8r, 84, 85, 89, 

109, 173, 175, 191, 202, 214, 

231, 234, 235, 237, 238, 269, 

270, 290, 291, 306, 315, 317, 

321. 
Congress, The, 12, 65. 
Conklin, Roscoe, 215, 313, 321, 

322, z^T,, 324- 
Connecticut, State of, 223, 224, 

225. 
Conrad, of Virginia, 182. 
" Conspiracy against General 

Grant," 195. 
Continental Hotel, Philadelphia, 

7(>. 
Cooper Institute, New York, 42. 
Corea, 83. 
Cornell, Governor of New 

York, 312, 313. 
Corning, New York, 248, 249. 
Corry, Pennsylvania, 247, 248, 

250. 
Cortlandt Street, New York, 5. 
Costello, Mr., 114. 



INDEX 



375 



Couch's Corps, Army of the 
Potomac, i8. 

Covington, Virginia, 125. 

Cox, S. S. ("Sunset"), 238. 

Creswell, Postmaster General 
J. A. J., 288. 

Crook, General, 257. 

Cuba, 156, 157, 305. 

Cuba, New York, 208, 320. 

Cuban Revolution, 155. 

Culpepper County, Virginia, 37, 
92. 

Culpepper Court House, Vir- 
ginia, zi- 

Culpepper, Virginia, 140, 142, 

143. 144. 145- 
Cumberland Gap, 131. 
Cumberland, The, 12. 
Gushing, Alonzo, 22, 86, 87. 
Gushing, Caleb, yz- 
Gushing, Howard, 65, 87. 
Gushing, Mary, 65. 
Gushing, Milton B., 65, "Ji, 74, 

84, 85, 87. 
Gushing, Mrs., 65, 79, 85, 87. 
Gushing, Mrs. William B., 85. 
Gushing, William B., 22, 65, 66, 

(i-7, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 72,, 74, 

75. 7^, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 

83, 84, 8s, 86, 87. 
Gushman, Charlotte, 351. 
Custom House, New York, 300, 

301. 

D 

Daggett, Congressman, of Ne^ 

vada, 309. 
Dana, Charles A., 49, 50, 51. 
Dana, Richard H., 121, 122. 
"Dandy," 113, 114. 
Daniel, Senator, 182. 
Danville, Virginia, 109, 162, 

163, 164. 
Davenport, Isaac, 151. 



Davis, Cushman K., 246. 
Davis, Jefferson, 117, 118, 120, 

121, 326. 
Deadwood, South Dakota, 256, 

257, 258. 
Declaration of Independence, 

353. 
Delaware River, 175, 176. 
Delaware, State of, 241. 
Delmonico's, New York, 104, 

IDS, 106. 
Dennison, Postmaster General 

W., 29. 
Department of Justice, 155, 173. 
Department of the Interior, 

226, 228, 258. 
Department of the Platte, 257. 
Detroit, Michigan, 186. 
Devens, Charles, 218. 
Dickinson, Daniel, 321. 
Dickson, of Virginia, 183, 184. 
" Distributing Post-Offices," 268, 

269. 
Dix, J. A., 236. 
Douglas, Senator S. A., 43. 
Douglass, Frederick, 331, 332, 

Zi2, 334- 
Dow, Honorable A. G., 321. 
Doyle, Captain, of Dunkirk, 21. 
Dreager, Miss E. M., 353. 
Drury, Mrs., 327, 328. 
Dry Tortugas, Florida, 53. 
Dunkirk, New York, 2, 3, 4, 17, 

21, 42, 67, 87, 190, 345- 
Durango, Colorado, 264. 
Dyer, Colonel, 162, 163, 164. 



"Eagle," The Steamer, 11. 
Eastman, the Thrasher, 366, 

367, 368, 369- 
East Tennessee, 133. 
Edmond, Robert, 151. 



376 



INDEX 



Edmunds, George F., 240, 241, 

242. 
Eightieth New York, 91. 
Electoral Commission of 1876, 

240, 241. 
Eleventh Corps, 31. 
Eleventh Street, Washington, 7. 
Ellery Center, New York, i. 
Ellery, New York, i, 2. 
Ellicottville, New York, 349. 
Ellis, Stewart, 364. 
Ellsworth, Captain E. E., 4. 
Elm City, The Steamer, 12. 
Elmer, General Richard A., 

282, 283. 
Elmira, New York, 220, 314. 
Emperor of Germany, 252, 253. 
Erie County, New York, 207. 
Erie, Lake, 350. 
Erie, Pennsylvania, 250. 
Erie Railroad, 2';y, 291, 292, 

293, 324, 331, 344- 
Estillville, Virginia, 132. 
Etheridge, Emerson, 290. 
"European Hippodrome," 114. 
Excelsior Brigade (Sickles'), 

14, 304, 305. 
Exchange Hotel, Richmond, 156. 
Exchange Street, Buffalo, 300, 

303. 



Fairfax Court House, Virginia, 

23. 
Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, 

US- 
Fair Oaks, Battle of, 18, 19. 
Falmouth, Virginia, 2},, Tj. 
Falstaff, Sir John, 335. 
Farmville, Virginia, 153. 
Fenton, Governor Reuben E., 

6, 3i3> 314, Z^(>- 



Fifth Army Corps, 17, 30. 
Fifth Avenue Hotel, New York, 

312. 
Fifth Avenue, New York, 5. 
Fifth Street, Richmond, 117. 
Fillmore, President Millard, 

345- 

First Army Corps, 2Z- 

First New Hampshire, i. 

First Regiment, Sickles' Bri- 
gade, 8, 306. 

Fisk, " Jim," 331. 

Fithian, Major, 116. 

Flood, O'Brien, Mackey and 
Fair, 209. 

Flood, of San Francisco, 209. 

Florida, State of, 177. 

Floyd, of Virginia, 182. 

Forbes, William H., 277. 

Forestville, New York, i. 

Fort Bridger, Wyoming, 177. 

Fort Fisher, North Carolina, 86. 

Fortress Monroe, Virginia, 51, 
52, 53, 58, 120, 234. 

Forty-Second Street, New York, 

5- 
Fourth of July at Parker Hill, 

350, 351, 352, 353, 369. 
Fourth United States Artillery, 

86. 
Fox, Assistant Secretary of the 

Navy, 69. 
Franklin, State of, 133. 
Franklin Street, Richmond, 123, 

185. 
Franklin's Division, Army of 

the Potomac, 13. 
Frederick, Maryland, 32. 
Fredericksburg, Virginia, 23, 40. 
Fredonia Academy, Fredonia, 

New York, 66. 
Fredonia, New York, i, 4, 65, 

66, 79. 87, I4S, 336, 344- 
Free Delivery Service, 275, 276. 



INDEX 



377 



Freedman's Bureau, 142, 143, 

144, 145, 229. 
Freeland, John, 117, 118, 119. 
Freeland, Mrs. John, 117, 118. 
French, C. Jay, 58. 



Gait's Jewelry Store, Washing- 
ton, 107. 
Gardner, Justice, of Buffalo, 

303. 
G. A. R. Encampment of 1897, 

304. 

Garfield, President J. A., 158, 
291, 292, 293, 294, 317, 319, 
320. 

Garnett, Judge, 153. 

Georgetown, District of Colum- 
bia, II. 

Georgia, State of, 235. 

German Post-Office Depart- 
ment, 251, 253. 

Germantown, Pennsylvania, 115. 

Germany, 251, 300, 301. 

Gettysburg, Battle of, 31, 32, 
33, 36, 86, 253, 305, 306. 

Gettysburg, Commission to 
Mark Battlefield, 307. 

Gibbs, Squire, 135, 136, 137, 138, 

139- 
Gilmer, of Virginia, 182. 
Gilmore, Harry, 32. 
Ginseng, 126, 127, 352. 
Golden Gate, San Francisco, 

210. 
Gold Hill, Nevada, 310. 
Goldsmith, the Poet, 353. 
Goochland County, Virginia, 

158. 
Good Hope, Maryland, 6. 
Gorham, George C, 309. 312. 
Goshen, New York, 292. 



Gould, Jay, 331. 

Gourley, Superintendent of Free 

Delivery, 275. 
Grace Street, Richmond, 55. 
Grand Army of the Republic, 

304. 
Grand River, Colorado, 259. 
Grant, General U. S., 18, 24, 

27, 32, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 

48, 49. 51, 52, 54, 55, 56, 58, 

59, 60, 61, 63, 92, no. III, 

115, 123, 138, 150, 167, 168, 

173, 192, 193, 195, 196, 200, 

226, 227, 228, 288, 290, 307, 

332, 334- 
Grant, Miss Nellie, no. 
Grant, Mrs. U. S., 109, 151. 
Grant's Headquarters, 37, 38, 

51, 53, 54, 87, 116. 
Greeley, Colorado, 258. 
Greeley, Horace, 6, 120, 122, 

123, 193, 313, 326, 327, 328, 

329, 330, 331- 
Green's Leather Store, Fre- 

donia, 338. 
Gregory, Rear Admiral, 82. 
Greiner, of Buffalo, 301, 302. 
Gresham, Postmaster General 

W. Q., 61, 62, 63, 277, 278, 

279, 281, 282. 
" Gretna Green," 134. 
Guiteau, 294. 

Gunnison, Colorado, 267. 
Gwynn's White Sulphur Springs, 

West Virginia, 127. 

H 

Hackett, J. K., 335, 336. 
Hall, John A., 315, 316. 
Halleck, General Henry W., 41, 

43- 
Haman, 287, 288. 
Hambletonian Horses, 292. 



378 



INDEX 



Hampton Roads, Virginia, 12. 
Hampton, Wade, 175. 
Hardie, Colonel J. A., 41. 
Hargas, "Jake," 318. 
Harney, General W. S., 94. 
Harris, Henry Clay, 158, 159. 
Harrison, Colonel Burton M., 

117, 118, 119. 
Harrison, of Virginia, 182. 
Harrison, President Benjamin, 

292, 293. 
Harrison's Landing, Virginia, 

20, 21, 22. 
Hartford, Connecticut, 322. 
Hastings, Mr., of New York, 

299. 
Hatch, General, 263, 268. 
Hatcher, Elder and Wife, 133, 

134, 135- 
Hatton, Frank, 282. 
Haupt, General H. U., 34. 
Hay and Nicolay's " Life of 

Lincoln," 46. 
Hayes, President R. B., 61, 

239, 240, 241, 290, 291. 
Hayti, Island of, 332. 
Hazen, A. D., 62, 63, 322. 
Heintzelman, General S. P., 13. 

14. 
Helena, Montana, 244. 
Henderson, Judge William H., 

332, 351. 353, 359, 369- 
Henderson, Mrs. W. H., 332. 
Henry, Captain Charles E., 

291, 292, 294. 
Henry, of Virginia, 182. 
Henry, Patrick, 182. 
Herkimer County, New York, 

331. 
Hester, Captain, 173. 
Hewitt, Abram, 236, 237, 238. 
Hiram College, 291. 
Hogg, of the Adams Express 

Company, 26. 



Home for the Friendless, Ran- 
dolph, 359. 

Hooker, General Joseph, 9, 11, 
13, 17, 18, 21, 22, 23, 24, 30, 

31, 32, 33, 77- 
Hooker's Division, Army of 

the Potomac, 7, 14. 
Hoosac Tunnel, Massachusetts, 

277. 
Hoppe, William of Richmond, 

164. 
Hornellsville, New York, 320. 
Howe, Hon. Chester, 151, 330. 
Howe, Victoria Anna, 151. 
Hudson River, New York, 321, 

342. 
Hutchinson, of New Orleans, 

196. 
Hydrophobia, 279, 280, 281. 



Ice Houses in Virginia, lOi. 
Idaho, State of, 243. 
Illinois, State of, 235, 317, 343- 
Indiana, State of, 239, 292. 
Ingalls, General Rufus, 97. 
Ingersoll, Robert G., 314, 316. 
Internal Revenue Department, 

152, 179. 
Iowa, State of, 269, 292. 
Ireland, William M., 215, 216, 

217, 218. 



"Jack," Collie, 280. 

Jackson, Stonewall, 31. 

" Jacob," Cushing's Servant, 74, 

75- 
Jamaica, Island of, 328. 
James, Department of the, 51. 
James River, Virginia, 51, 54. 

56, 58, 72, 113, 114, 120, 138, 

160. 



INDEX 



379 



James, Thomas L., 215, 216, 218. 
James v. Campbell, 218. 
Jamestown Club, Jamestown, 

316. 
Jamestown, New York, i, 2, 

53, 57, 135, 151, 189, 216, 312, 

313, 314, 315, Z^7, 320, 327, 

Z2,-2, 350. 
Jasper, Rev. John, 186, 187. 
Jersey City, New Jersey, 330. 
Jewell, Postmaster General, 195, 

196. 
" Jim Blaine," Percheron, 358, 

359- 
Johnson, President Andrew, 

109, 124, 135, 139, 140, 286, 

287, 288, 289, 290. 
Johnson, Reverdy, 173, 174, 175. 
Johnston, General Jo, 13. 
Jones, John Paul, 71. 
Jones, " Sine," 315, 316. 
Jones, William Hemphill, 179, 

180. 
Jonesville, Virginia, 132. 



K 

Kanawha Canal, Virginia, 113. 
Kearny, General Philip, 14, 21, 

22, 23. 
Kearny's Division, Army of the 

Potomac, 13. 
Kentucky, State of, 131, 134, 

2(i7, 355- 
Kirkwood House, Washington, 

_75- 
Kirkwood, Senator, of Iowa, 

292, 293. 
Knox, General Henry, 176. 
Knoxville, Tennessee, 133. 
Kountz Brothers, 244. 
Ku Klux Klan, 170, 171, 172, 

173, 174, 175- 



Lafayette, Marquis de, 336, 337. 
Lake Shore Road, 68. 
Laramie, Wyoming, 246. 
Leathers, Captain Thomas, 196, 

198. 
Lee, General Robert E., 20, 23, 

32, 34, 38, 64, 72, 86, 123, 138, 

158, 183. 
Lee, Major General William F., 

158. 
Lewisburg, West Virginia, 125. 
Lexington, Kentucky, 266. 
Lexington, Virginia, 123. 
Libby Prison, Richmond, 56, 57. 
Lincoln, Abraham, 2, 6, 7, 22, 

30, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 

47, 48, 49, 54, 70, ^2, 7Z, 7^, 

77, 81, 82, 87, 107, 135, 139, 

140, 214, 234, 290, 317, 335. 
Lincoln, Tad, 48. 
Lipman, of Chicago, 245. 
Littell, Mr., of Buffalo, 308. 
Liverpool Point, Maryland, 11. 
Livingston County, New York, 

280. 
Lockwood, Dan, 321. 
Loeb, Sergeant Daniel, 3, 4. 
Long Branch, New Jersey, 125. 
Long Island, New York, 50, 

236. 
Louisiana, State of, 196, 197, 

241, 315. 317. 

Lownsbury, Captain, 57. 

Loyal Legion, District of Co- 
lumbia Commandery, 308. 

Loyal Legion, Military Order 
of, 307. 

Loyal Legion, New York Com- 
mandery, 307. 

Lyman, Henry D., 283, 284, 285. 

Lynchburg, Virginia, 63, 109, 
147, 290. 



38o 



INDEX 



M 

MacDonald, Captain, 19. 
McClellan, General G. B., 9, 13, 

14, 20, 21, 22, 23, 30, 91. 
McDonald, Doctor C. F., 30, 

275- 
McGinnis, General, 308. 
McKinley, Mrs. Jack, 107, 108. 
McKinley, Mrs. William, 304, 

308. 
McKinley, President William, 

232, 304, 305, 308, 309, 324- 
McKinley, Sergeant Jack, 106, 

107, 108. 
McLellan, George W., 286, 287. 
McNulty, Major, 142, 143, 144, 

145- 
Mail-bag knot, 223, 224, 225. 
Maine, State of, 154, 248, 249, 

314- 
Mallory, of Oregon, 208. 
Malvern Hill, Battle of, 20. 
Manila, Philippine Islands, 84. 
Manitou, Colorado, 258. 
Manning, Captain, 52. 
Mansfield, Ohio, 318. 
Marcus, Leopold, of Buffalo, 

307. 
Market Street, San Francisco, 

205. 
Mark Twain, 341. 
Marvin, Robert, 312, 314, 315, 

316. 
Maryland, State of, 7, 8, 25, 

2>2, 152, 331. 
Mason, Colonel, 98, 99. 
Masonic Temple, Elmira, 220, 

221, 222. 
Mauvey, of Virginia, 182. 
Maynard, Horace, 289. 
Mayo's Bridge, Richmond, 63. 
Mayville, New^ York, 15. 



Meade, General G. G., 18, 30, 

31. 2,2, 33, 34, 37, 48, 51, 54, 92. 

Meagher, General Thomas Fran- 
cis, 44. 

Meagher's Brigade, 44. 

Meeker, N. C, 258. 

" Meg Merrilies," 351. 

Memorial Hall, Harvard, 4. 

Merrimac, The, 12, 13, 65. 

" Merry Wives of Windsor," 

335- 

Metropolitan Telephone Com- 
pany, 49. 

Mexican War, 5, 88, 89. 

Mexico, 354. 

Michigan, State of, 292, 2>2Z, 

349- 
Miller, Polk, 160. 
Miller, Senator, of New York, 

299. 
Mills, Ku Klux, 172. 
Milton, the Poet, 353. 
Minneapolis, Minnesota, 246. 
Minnesota, State of, 246. 
Mississippi River, 196, 197, 198. 
Missouri, State of, 150. 
Mitchell, Senator, of Oregon, 

200. 
Money Order Service, 27, 28, 

29, 275- 
Moneypenny, Colonel, of Ohio, 

263. 
Money, Senator, of Mississippi, 

232. 
Monitor, The, 12. 
Montana, State of, 244. 
Montgomery, Alabama, 197. 
Monumental Hotel, Richmond, 

116. 
Moonshiners, 129. 
Moore, of Wyoming, 245, 246. 
Morganhagen, Mrs. Peter, 300. 
Morganhagen, Peter, 300, 301, 

302, 303- 



INDEX 



381 



Morgan Line, 196. 
Morris, Clara, 261. 
Morton, Governor L. P., 317, 

318. 
Mosby, Colonel John S., 39, 

182. 
Mount Vernon, Virginia, 23. 
Mowry-Cowboy, 210, 211. 
Mullett, James, 338. 
Mullett, Judge, 336, 337, 338, 

339. 340, 341- 



N 

National Hotel, Washington, 
232, 234. 

National Theatre, Washing- 
ton, 7. 

Navajo Indians, 265, 266, 267. 

Naval Academy, 66, 67, 69, 85. 

Navy Department, 65, 72, 82. 

Nevada Bank, San Francisco, 
209, 211, 212. 

Nevada, State of, 258, 309, 310. 

Newark, New Jersey, 222. 

Newbury, Captain, 208, 209. 

Newfoundland, 85. 

New Mexico, State of, 253, 254, 
260. 

New Orleans, Louisiana, 167, 
196, 197, 198, 199. 

New River, The, Virginia and 
West Virginia, 128. 

New York and New Jersey 
Telephone Company, 50. 

New York and Pennsylvania 
Telephone Company, 350. 

New York Central Railroad, 
291. 

New York City, 4, 5, 28, 42, 46, 
49, 50, 51, 68, 70, 77, 78, 79- 
82, 97, 103, 118, 119, 120, 121, 
156, 168, 183, 196, 215, 216, 



217, 218, 229, 230, 237, 238, 
243, 244, 252, 269, 283, 291, 
292, 294, 302, 307, 312, 322, 
326, 329, 332, 336, 350, 351- 

New York City Bar, 117. 

" New York Herald," The, 97, 
204. 

New York State Agricultural 
Society, 114. 

New York Telephone Com- 
pany, 117. 

Niagara Falls, New York, 308. 

Niagara Hotel, Buffalo, 304. 

Ninety-fourth New York, 91. 

Ninety-third New York, 91. 

"Norfolk," Race Horse, 211. 

Norfolk, Virginia, 12, 13, 22, 
63, 76, 155, 156, 176. 

North Carolina, State of, 70, 
79, 124, 125, 133. 152, 171, 352. 

Norton, Marcus P., 214, 215, 
219. 

Nye, Senator James, 309, 310, 
312. 

O 

Oberlin College, 159. 
Oceana, West Virginia, 127. 
O'Connor, Charles, 121, 122. 
O'Day, of Parker Hill, 364. 
Ogden, Utah, 205, 244. 
Ohio River, The, 126. 
Ohio, State of, 159, 241, 324. 
" Old Alec," Stephens' servant, 

232. 
" Old Blue-Bottle Fly," 145- 
" Old Maje," Work Horse, 359. 

361, 362. 
Olean, New York, 292. 
Oleomargarine, 293. 33^- 
Omaha, Nebraska, 245, 269. 
One Hundred and Twelfth 

New York, 53. 



382 



INDEX 



Orange and Alexandria Rail- 
road, 37, 140. 
Orange County, New York, 

292, 293. 
Orange County, Virginia, yj. 
Ord, General E. O. C, 51, 53. 
Oregon, State of, 203, 206, 207, 

209, 239, 240. 
Ouray, Chief, 258, 259, 260, 261, 

262, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267, 

268. 
Ouray, Colorado, 267. 
Owego, New York, 292, 330. 
Owen, Colonel, 290. 
Owen, Mrs. Josephine C, 295, 

296, 297, 298, 299, 300. 
Owen, Senator, of Oklahoma, 

290. 



Pacheco, Lieutenant Governor, 
210. 

Pacific Coast, 200, 201, 205, 209, 
212, 309. 

Page, of Virginia, 182. 

Panama, New York, 327. 

" Paradise Lost," 353. 

Parker, Charles, loi, 289. 

Parker, Dr. Charles, i, 68, 189. 

" Parker Hill," 349, 350, 351, 
352, 353, 354, 355, 356, 357, 
358, 359, 360, 361, 362, 363, 
364, 36s, 366, 367, 368, 369. 

Patrick County, Virginia, 171. 

Patrick Court House, Virginia, 
171. 

Patrick, Provost Marshal Gen- 
eral, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 
95, 96, III, 113, 114, 115, 116. 

Patterson Mills, Philadelphia, 
217. 

Peck, General John J., 72. 

Peddic, Thomas B., 222. 



Pelton, Colonel, 236, 239. 

Peninsula, The, Virginia, 18. 

Pennsylvania Avenue, Wash- 
ington, 107. 

Pennsylvania, State of, 22,, 28, 
Z2, Z2,, 62, 178, 189, 190, 193, 
247, 349- 

Penny Posts, 275. 

Penrose, Captain, 55. 

Pensacola, Frigate, 9. 

Petersburg, Virginia, 51, 109, 
119, 120. 

Petrea, General, 147, 148, 149. 

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 75, 
■jd, IIS, 140, 142, 175, 209, 215, 
217, 218, 284. 

Philippine Islands, 84. 

Pickett's Charge, 86, 87. 

" Pilgrim's Progress," 353. 

Pinkerton Agency, 228. 

Piscataway, Virginia, 25, 26. 

Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, 249. 

Piatt, T. C, 291. 

Pleasanton, Alfred, 179. 

Plume, Sergeant, 42. 

" Plumed Knight of Maine," 

315- 
Plymouth, North Carolina, 79, 

81, "82. 
Pocahontas, 7. 
Poe, Edgar Allan, 186. 
Poindexter, Colonel, 170. 
Point of Rocks, Maryland, 34, 

Pope, General John, 22. 
Porter, Charles H., 287, 288. 
Porter, Commodore D. D., 22, 

48, 71. 
Porter, Fort at Buffalo, 307. 
Portland, Oregon, 206, 207, 208, 

209. 
Post-Office Department, 27, 52, 

54, 59, 60, 109, no, 125, 129, 

146, 149, 195, 197, 198, 200, 



INDEX 



3^3 



203, 204, 206, 213, 214, 216, 

219, 222, 223, 224, 225, 228, 

231, 232, 235, 247, 268, 269, 

276, 281, 282, 288, 291, 294, 
29s, 296, 298, 322, 349. 

Post, Sergeant, 15, 18. 

Potomac River, 6, 7, 8, 25, 34. 

Pratt, Mr., of Baltimore 35. 

Preece, Sir, of British Postal 
Service, 276. 

Presbyterian Synod, 126. 

Prince Edward County, Vir- 
ginia, 191. 

Proudfit, William H., 53. 

Pruden, Secretary, 227. 

Pryor, General Roger A., 119, 
120. 



R 



Railway Mail Service, 196, 223, 

268, 269, 271, 273, 274, 294. 
Ramsdell, Charles P., 192, 193, 

194. 
Randall, Postmaster General 

A. W., 146, 147, 149, 287, 288, 

289. 
Randall, Samuel W., 231, 235. 
Randolph, John, of Roanoke, 

183, 184. 
Randolph, New York, 277, 279, 

280, 292, 295, 296, 297, 299, 

312, 314, 321, 332, 349, 350, 

351, 364. 
Randolph, of Virginia, 182. 
Rappahannock River, Virginia, 

12, 32, 38. 
Rappahannock Station, Virginia, 

39, 40. 
Rathbone Block, Elmira, 220, 

221. 
Rathbone, Rev. Mr., 189, 190. 
Rawlins, General John A., 53. 



Redding, California, 206. 

Red River, The, 167, 197, 198. 

Red River Landing, Louisiana, 
197, 198, 199. 

Reed, T. B., 324, 325, 326. 

Revolutionary War, 126, 336. 

Richmond, Capitol, 55, 184, 332. 

" Richmond Dispatch," 169. 

Richmond Post Office, 55, 56, 
58, 61. 

Richmond, Virginia, 18, 19, 22, 
48, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 61, 62, 
63, 84, 102, 109, no, 113, 114, 
115, 117, 118, 119, 120, 122, 
123, 126, 143, 144, 147, 151, 
152, 156, 157, 160, 164, 168, 
169, 172, 174, 176, 182, 183, 
184, 186, 188, 190, 191, 193, 
244, 289, 326, 332, 333. 

"Richmond Whig," The, 102. 

Richmond's Falls, West Vir- 
ginia, 127, 128, 130. 

Richmonds, The, 127, 128, 129, 
130, 131- 

Ripley, New York, 208. 

Rip Raps, Hampton Roads, 13. 

Rives, of Virginia, 182. 

Roach, of Richmond, 164, 165, 
167, 168. 

Robinson, John, 188, 189. 

Robinson, of the " Tribune," 

327- 
Rochester, New York, 334, 
Rocky Mountains, 177. 
Rodgers, Admiral, 155, 156. 
Roosevelt, President Theodore, 

354- 
Rork, Mark, 335, 336, 337, 338, 

339, 340. 
Roseburg, Oregon, 206. 
Ross, of Richmond, 56, 57, 58. 
Rucker, Major D. H., 9, 10, il. 
Ryan Crew, The, 83. 



384 



INDEX 



Saint Lawrence County, New 

York, 331. 
Saint Louis, Missouri, 150, 265, 

266. 
Salamanca, New York, 292. 
Salem, Oregon, 203, 206. 
Salisbury, North Carolina, 130, 

135- 
Sample Hill, Randolph, 353. 
Sands, Admiral, 151. 
San Francisco, California, 200, 

202, 203, 204, 206, 209, 211. 
Sanitary Commission Benefit, 

351- 
Santiago de Cuba, 83. 
Sargent, Senator of California, 

200, 309. 
Saunders, Dr., of Randolph, 

351. 352, 353. 369- 
Schofield, General John M., 32. 
Schurz, Carl, 258, 262. 
Scoville, Captain C. E., 43, 56. 
Scranton, Pennsylvania, 100. 
Scudder, Mrs., of Randolph, 

353- 
Sedan, Indiana, 243. 
Sedgwick, General John, 42, 92. 
Senate, The, 151, 192, I93, 203, 

240, 241, 290, 298, 300, 309, 

310, 312. 
Senica Street, Buffalo, 304, 305. 
Seven Days' Battles, 20. 
Seven Pines, Battle of, 18, 19. 
Seventh Regiment, New York, 4. 
Seventh Street, Richmond, 123. 
Seventy-second New York, 14, 

53, 304. 
Severn River, Maryland, 85. 
Seward, William H., 6, 7. 
Seymour, Governor Horatio, 6. 
Shakespeare, 240. 



Shallcross, Thomas P., 228, 230, 

231, 232, 233, 234. 
Sharp, A. G., 281. 
Sharp, Alexander, 58, 109, no. 
Sharp, Mrs. Alexander, 109. 
Sharpsburg, Maryland, 23. 
Shelby, Colonel, 133. 
Shenandoah Valley, 126. 
Sheridan, General George A., 

313, 314, 315. 316, 317, 318, 

319. 320. 
Sheridan, General P. H., 48, 96, 

317. 
Sheridan, New York, 337. 
Sherman, General W. T., 32, 39, 

176, 177, 178. 
Sherman, Mrs. W. T., 178. 
Sherman, Senator John, 317, 

318, 319- 
Shreveport, Louisiana, 167, 196, 

197, 198, 199. 
Sickles, General D. E., 2, 11, 

12, 18, 19, 23, 30, 304, 305, 

306, 307, 308. j 

" Sic Semper Tyrannis," 107. 1 

" Side Judges," 340, 341. 
Sidney, Nebraska, 245. 
Signal Service, 323. 
Sims, Surgeon, 103. 
Sinclair, David, 341, 342, 343, 

344, 345, 346, 347, 348. 
Sinclair, George, 341, 342, 343, 

344, 349. 
Sinclair, Major Samuel, i, 341, 

342. 
Sinclair, Samuel, 120, 326, 327, 

328, 329, 341. 
Sinclairville, New York, i, 341, 

342, 344, 346, 349- 
Sixth Corps, 92. 
Smith, Captain Joseph, Jr., 65. 
Smith, Colonel Prescott, 34, 35. 
Smith, F. Hopkinson, 160. 
Smith, Gerrit, 121, 122. 



INDEX 



38s 



Smith, Inspector, 224. 

Smith, John, 7. 

" Smith," of Bradford, 248, 249, 

250, 251. 
Smith, of Southern California, 

210, 21 r. 
Smith, Rear Admiral Joseph, 

65, 69. 
" Snowball," 114. 
Soldiers' Home, Dayton, Ohio, 

90, 94- 
South Carolina, State of, 152, 

173. 174- 
Spanish Government, 83, 156. 
" Spirit of the Times," The, 22. 
Spotswood Hotel, Richmond, 

164. 
Springfield, Illinois, 46, 47. 
Stansbury, Henry, 173, 175. 
Stanton, Major, 116. 
Stanton, Secretary of War, E. 

M., 33, 40, 41, 42, 43, 45, 72, 

304- 
Stanton, Virginia, 140. 
" Star-Spangled Banner," 353. 
State Department, 83, 155, 169. 
Staten Island, New York, 4, 5, 

IS- 

Stephens, Alexander H., 232, 
233, 234, 235. 

Steubenville, Ohio, 304. 

Stevens, Colonel William Oli- 
ver, 2, 3, 4, 5. 

Stewart, Senator W. M., 289. 

Stockton, California, 200, 201, 
202, 203. 

Stone, of Richmond, 164, 165. 

Strong, Doctor, of Buffalo, 207. 

Strong, Judge, of Oregon, 207, 
208, 209. 

Stuart, General James E. B., 42. 

Sugargrove, Pennsylvania, 189. 

Sullivan County, New York, 
365. 



Sumner, General E. V., 14, 22. 
Sumner, Senator Charles, 309, 

310, 311, 312. 
Sumner's Corps, 22. 
Sumter, Fort, 2. 
" Sun," New York, 49, 50, 51. 
Supreme Court of the United 

States, 48, 181, 182, 218, 321. 
Suspension Bridge, Niagara 

Falls, 190. 
Swabach, Carl, 253. 
Swaney, Peter, 357, 359, 360, 

361, 362, 363, 364. 



Taliaferro, General William B., 

92, 93- 
Taliaferro, Mrs. William B., 

93- 
Tappahannock, Virginia, 153, 

154- 

Tappahannock County, Vir- 
ginia, 153. 

Taylor, Colonel Nelson, 5. 

Taylor, General Zachary, 88, 
89. 

Taylor, R. W., 179, 180, 181, 
182. 

Tennessee, East, 290. 

Tennessee, State of, 133, 134, 

135- 
Terry, General, no. 
"Test Letters," 140, 141. 
Texas, State of, 197. 
Thayer, Governor, of Oregon, 

207, 209. 
Third Army Corps, 17, 30, 306. 
Third Indiana Cavalry, 267. 
Third United States Cavalry, 

98. 
Thomas, General George H., 39. 
Thompson, William B., 293. 



386 



INDEX 



Thornburg, Major, 258. 
Thurman, Senator, of Ohio, 

241, 242. 
Tidball, Captain, 228, 230, 237, 

238. 
Tilden, S. J., 235, 236, 237, 239, 

240, 241. 
Tombstone, Arizona, 87. 
Topeka, Kansas, 208. 
Torrance, Jared, 207. 
Towne, of California, 201. 
Treasury Department, 53, 84, 

89, 145. 146, 149, 164, 179, 

181, 228, 284. 
Tremont Hotel, Washington, 

260. 
"Tribune," The New York, 

120, 193, 326, 330, 341- 
Trotter, Mr., of Virginia, 140, 

142. 
Tullock, Postmaster, 278. 
Turner, Major, 57. 
Tweed, "Boss," 168. 
Twenty-first New York, 91. 



U 



Uncompahgre, Colorado, 264. 

Uncompahgre Utes, 259. 

Union League, 35. 

Union Pacific Railroad, 205, 
244, 245. 269. 

United States Building, Rich- 
mond, 118. 

United States Court, Richmond, 
120, 164, 176, 182. 

United States Ford, Virginia, 

39- 
United States Hotel, New 

York, '/'J. 
United States Supreme Court, 

175- 
Utah, Territory of, 260. 



Ute Indians, 254, 258, 259, 260, 
262, 263, 264, 266. 



V 

Vail, "Jim," 364. 

Vail, Theodore N., 269, 273, 
274, 277. 

Valley of Virginia, 140. 

Vanderbilt, Cornelius, 120. 

Van Lew, Elizabeth, 55, 56, 58, 
59, 60, 61, 62, dZ'i 64. 

Vermont, State of, 215, 217, 
240, 241. 

Vicksburg, Mississippi, 198. 

Virginia City, Nevada, 310. 

Virginia, State of, 25, 37, 123, 
134, 138, 140, 147, 150, 151, 
152, 154, I57> 158, 161, 162, 
172, 173, 176, 192, 193. 208, 
286, 290, 332, 333, 352. 

Virginius, The, 83. 



W 

Walker, General Francis A., 
158. 

Wallace, General Lew, 308. 

Wallace Reports, 320. 

Wall Street, New York, 146. 

War Department, Z2>^ 39. 40. 
41, 42, 49, ^2, 97, 106, 117. 

War of 1812, 147. 

Ward, Honorable Hamilton, 
320, 321. 

Warm Sweet Springs, Vir- 
ginia, 184. 

Warren, Mr., of BuflFalo, 297, 
299. 

Warren, Pennsylvania, 332. 

Warrington, Virginia, 182. 

"Washington," 254, 259, 260, 
261. 



INDEX 



387 



Washington Chess and Checker 
Club, 284. 

Washington, City of, 4, 6, 7, 8, 
9, 17, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 
28, 29, 31, Z2, ZZ, 34, 35, ZT, 
39, 40, 42, 44, 49, SI, 53, 54, 
58, 61, 6s, 68, 69, 72, 7Z, 76, 
100, 106, 112, 146, 147, 148, 
150, 155, 157, 158, 169, 176, 
179, 180, 193, 195, 196, 197, 
199, 203, 212, 215, 216, 219, 
221, 224, 230, 263, 266, 269, 
277, 279, 281, 286, 289, 290, 
292, 294, 297, 299, 310, 312, 
Zn, 315, 321, 322, 323, 324, 
Z2>^, 335- 

Washington County, New York, 
331. 

Washington, George, 23, 175, 
176. 

Washington Market, New York, 
168. 

Washington Navy Yard, 9, "iZt 
74. 84- 

Washington, Post Office, yj- 

Washington, Territory of, 206. 

Watkins, Judge, 153. 

Watterson, Henry, of Ken- 
tucky, 233. 

Watterson, Judge, 233, 234. 

Weather Bureau, 323. 

Webster, Attorney, 156, 157. 

Webster, Daniel, 184, 185, 345. 

Weitzel, General Godfrey, 54, 
55- 

Welch, Mr., of Philadelphia, 
121. 

Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
70, 82, 83, 85. 

Wells, Governor, of Virginia, 

170, 322, Z2T,, 324- 

Wells, of Patrick Court House, 

171, 172. 

Wellsville, New York, 314. 



Western Union Telegraph Com- 
pany, 239. 
West Indies, 85. 
Westminster, Maryland, ZZ- 
West Point, New York, 86, 87, 

88, 100, 178. 
West Virginia, State of, 125, 

152, 228, 352. 
Westover Estate, Virginia, 160. 
Wheeler, Judge, 215, 216. 
White, Dr., of Fredonia, 66. 
White House, The, 40, 45, 176, 

221, 241, 290, 294, 299, 305. 
Wickham, of Virginia, 182. 
Wild-West Show, 258. 
Wilkes, George, 21, 22. 
Williams, Attorney-General, 

218. 
Williams, Congressman, of 

Michigan, 292, 293. 
Williams, General Seth, 31. 
Williams, Mr., of Alabama, 232. 
Williamsburg, Battle of, 13, 16, 

17, 18. 
Wilmington, North Carolina, 

71, 72, TZ, 7^- 
Wilson, Bluford, 195. 
Wilson, " Puddin'-head," 341. 
Winter Garden Theatre, New 

York, 78. 
Wirt, William, 185, 186. 
Wisconsin, State of, 112. 
Wise, Governor Henry A., 182, 

183. 
Wise, John S., 183. 
Wood, Mrs. John, 7. 
Woodford, General Stewart L., 

215- 

Woodstock, Virginia, 140, 286. 
Woodward, P. H., 212. 
Worms, Captain Henry, 228, 

229, 230. 
Wriborg, Carl, 15, 16, 17. 
Wright, General H. G., 42. 



388 .INDEX 

Wyllie, J., 284, 285. Young's Farm, Parker Hill, 

Wyoming, State of, 245, 246, 352. 

256, 257. 

Wyoming, The, 83. Z 

^ Zevely, A. N., 213, 214, 215, 

^ 216. 

York River, Virginia, 13. Zouaves, 103, 104, 105. 
Yorktown, Virginia, 13. 



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